Near-Infrared Optical Switch

Fast optical switches play a critical role in various quantum sensors and applications. For instance, in atom interferometers, splitting/merging operations of atomic beams are achieved via controlled exposure of atoms to short optical pulses. However, existing optical switch solutions are unsuitable for field deployment of these emerging suites of sensors due to the limitations in their performance (e.g., low switching speed or extinction ratio) or size, weight, and power (SWaP).  Quantum sensors also require efficient and configurable light delivery to multiple, task-specific fiber-optic ports (e.g., atom cooling, atom detection, atomic state manipulation, etc.). A fully packaged, ruggedized, 1-to-N optical switch could significantly reduce the SWaP of the target sensor platform while enabling uninterrupted sensor operation.  To address this need, Opto-Atomics Corp. (OAC) proposes to develop a new Near-Infrared Optical Switch (NIROS) implemented on an integrated waveguide device. Our design allows a fast optical switch across the visible and near-infrared (NIR) spectrum of interest in atom-based sensors. In Phase I, OAC will build a prototype for performance evaluation and feasibility demonstration. OAC will also propose a preliminary design offering flexible system reconfiguration for future implementation with quantum sensing platforms.