Performance-optimized components for quantum technologies via additive manufacturing

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how additive manufacturing combined with optimization techniques can produce high-performance, lightweight quantum device components, exemplified by a magneto-optical trap capturing millions of rubidium atoms.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach integrating additive manufacturing and optimization to create compact, robust quantum components with enhanced performance and broad applicability.

Findings

Produced a magneto-optical trap capturing ~2×10^8 rubidium atoms

Developed lightweight, stable quantum device components using additive manufacturing

Showed transferability of the approach to various quantum technology applications

Abstract

Novel quantum technologies and devices place unprecedented demands on the performance of experimental components, while their widespread deployment beyond the laboratory necessitates increased robustness and fast, affordable production. We show how the use of additive manufacturing, together with mathematical optimization techniques and innovative designs, allows the production of compact, lightweight components with greatly enhanced performance. We use such components to produce a magneto-optical trap that captures $\sim 2 \times 10^8$ rubidium atoms, employing for this purpose a compact and highly stable device for spectroscopy and optical power distribution, optimized neodymium magnet arrays for magnetic field generation, and a lightweight, additively manufactured ultra-high vacuum chamber. We show how the use of additive manufacturing enables substantial weight reduction and stability enhancement, while also illustrating the transferability of our approach to experiments and devices across the quantum technology sector and beyond.