MEMS Rubidium atomic vapor cell for miniature atomic resonance device applications

This paper reports the on-going development of MEMS-based Rubidium vapor cells for miniaturized frequency standard applications. The cells have been fabricated using bulk silicon micromachining process of a 1.5-mm-thick silicon wafer bonded to glass wafers on either side. On-chip vapor dispensing was carried out by laser thermal activation of a commercial Rubidium dispenser pill sealed inside the cells. The cells have a size of 12 mm ×\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\times$$\end{document} 8 mm ×\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\times$$\end{document} 2.5 mm (H). The cells were characterized by absorption spectroscopy. The absorption spectrum of the MEMS cells had a close match with a reference Rubidium cell, confirming the presence of Rubidium in the MEMS cells. This work paves the way for the development of MEMS Rubidium vapor cells that can be used in the development of miniature quantum devices and sensors.