Atomically Stabilized Time Regulation in Orbit (ASTRO)

ColdQuanta is developing a highly-integrated, compact physics package that will reduce the size, weight, and power (SWaP) of the next-generation of space-based optical clocks. The key element of this system is the development of an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) manifold for laser cooling strontium. The extremely narrow linewidth of strontiums optical intercombination transition is ideal for constructing a highly accurate optical clock. At the heart of the ColdQuantas UHV system, a source of low-outgassing strontium will be heated within a source chamber engineered to withstand the chemically aggressive vapor. At sufficiently high vapor pressures, the strontium will be cooled in sequential optical traps formed in the glass and silicon manifold before acting as an atomic frequency standard. This approach has significant advantages in terms of size and power consumption over traditional vacuum systems, as is required for space applications. The vacuum and atomic source technologies can also be applied directly to other atomic species of interest, including calcium, ytterbium, and barium.