Light and atoms will work together in future sensors

Wallenberg Academy Fellow Nils Engelsen will construct a nanoscale platform a hundred times thinner than a strand of hair, where atoms and light can interact at the quantum level. The resulting quantum phenomena could be used to create devices such as ultra-stable lasers, high-precision atomic clocks, quantum computers, and ultra-sensitive sensors.

Dr Nils Johan Engelsen works at Chalmers University of Technology, where researchers can use technology that allows them to carve nano-sized structures into silicon nitride or other materials. These structures can be used to control light waves. Engelsen’s goal is to make the light waves travel along a line of single atoms, so the light and atoms can interact.

He will use lasers to cool strontium atoms to temperatures close to absolute zero and then place them in the light. When light and atoms interact, a phenomenon called quantum entanglement will arise, where the atoms are strongly linked to each other and to the light.

These quantum entanglements can be used to design ultra-sensitive sensors, ones that can detect minute changes in the universe, such as gravitational waves or traces of dark matter. It is also possible to create entangled light waves, which may increase the precision of microscopes and quantum computers. Engelsen also hopes to develop an ultra-stable laser that can be used for more accurate atomic clocks and faster optical communications.

Photo: Patrik Lundin