Atomic or molecular gas cell

Abstract

The utility model provides an atom or molecule air chamber, which comprises an alkali metal source assembly, the alkali metal source assembly comprises an inner shell and alkali metal accommodated in a vacuum cavity of the inner shell, the inner shell comprises a first shell wall part and a second shell wall part which are connected with each other, and the melting point of the first shell wall part is lower than that of the second shell wall part; the alkali metal source assembly is sealed in a containing cavity of the outer shell; wherein the first shell wall part and the second shell wall part are hard shells respectively, heating and melting the first shell wall part, and releasing the alkali metal in the outer shell to obtain the atom or molecule air chamber.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the field of optics, and particularly relates to an atomic or molecular gas cell. Background Art

[0002] An atomic or molecular vapor absorption cell is also called an atomic absorption cell, an atomic reference cell, a White Cell, commonly known as a bubble. According to the filled substance (mainly alkali metal), it is named rubidium cell, cesium cell, iodine cell, etc. Among them, an alkali metal atomic gas cell is a core device of quantum sensing instruments such as chip-level atomic clocks, atomic magnetometers, and atomic gyroscopes. Studying the interaction process between a high-performance alkali metal atomic gas cell and light is a requirement for high-precision measurement of quantum sensing instruments and is the basis for realizing chip-based metrology, testing, and sensing.

[0003] Currently, for adding an alkali metal in a sealed cavity and releasing the alkali metal to form an alkali metal atomic gas cell, there are usually three methods. The first method is to seal the alkali metal atoms in a vacuum glass tube and seal-connect the glass tube to a vacuum cavity through a copper tube. After the vacuum in the vacuum cavity is pumped out, an external force is used to squeeze and deform the copper tube, causing the internal glass tube to break, and the alkali metal atoms are released. The second method is to store the alkali metal atoms in a wax pill in advance, then seal the wax pill in the system, and heat it to melt the surface wax layer when the conditions are appropriate to release the alkali metal atoms. The third method is to cut or inject the exposed alkali metal into the system in a special gas atmosphere, then seal the system and use it. The above methods have the following disadvantages:

[0004] (1) In the first method, after the necessary conditions such as vacuum pumping of the system are completed, an external force is required to squeeze the copper tube to break the internal glass tube and release the alkali metal atoms. During the squeezing process, it is easy to cause the external copper tube to break and leak air, or the alkali metal atoms may not be completely released due to insufficient squeezing. After the glass tube is broken, a lot of glass debris will remain, which will cause problems such as blockage during the subsequent movement of the system, reducing the mobility and reliability of the system.

[0005] (2) In the second method, high temperature is required to melt the wax layer to release the atoms. The melted wax may re-melt due to the increase in the system ambient temperature during subsequent use, thus blocking or polluting the system.

[0006] (3) In the third method, a set of complex and precise equipment is required to provide a specific gas atmosphere and operating environment, and the use cost is high.

[0007] In view of this, the utility model provides a new atomic or molecular gas cell to overcome the problems of complex manufacturing process, high environmental requirements, and low system reliability of the existing alkali metal atomic gas cell. Summary of the Utility Model

[0008] To address the above technical problems, the present utility model provides an atomic or molecular gas chamber, which is used to overcome the problems of complex manufacturing processes, high environmental requirements, and low system reliability of existing alkali metal atomic gas chambers.

[0009] The atomic or molecular gas chamber of the present utility model includes: an alkali metal source assembly, the alkali metal source assembly includes: an inner housing and alkali metal received in the vacuum chamber of the inner housing, the inner housing includes a first shell wall portion and a second shell wall portion connected to each other, and the melting point of the first shell wall portion is lower than that of the second shell wall portion; and an outer housing, the alkali metal source assembly is sealed in the receiving chamber of the outer housing; wherein, the first shell wall portion and the second shell wall portion are respectively hard shells, heating and melting the first shell wall portion to release the alkali metal into the outer housing to obtain the atomic or molecular gas chamber.

[0010] In one embodiment, the hard shell is a glass shell.

[0011] In one embodiment, a partial area of the glass shell corresponding to the first shell wall portion is low-melting-point glass, and a partial area of the glass shell corresponding to the second shell wall portion is high-melting-point glass.

[0012] In one embodiment, it further includes an energy assembly, the energy assembly is arranged outside or inside the outer housing, and the energy assembly is used to directly or indirectly heat and melt the first shell wall portion.

[0013] In one embodiment, the energy assembly is a laser, and the laser is arranged outside the outer housing; the outer housing is a transparent outer housing; wherein, the laser emits laser light, and the laser light passes through the transparent outer housing, irradiates and heats and melts the first shell wall portion.

[0014] In one embodiment, the first shell wall portion faces the laser light emission direction of the laser.

[0015] In one embodiment, the first shell wall portion is parallel to the laser light emission direction of the laser, and the first shell wall portion includes two parallel and opposite first shell wall portions.

[0016] In one embodiment, the energy assembly is a heating wire, the heating wire is arranged on the inner surface of the outer housing facing the receiving chamber, and the heating wire directly contacts and heats and melts the first shell wall portion.

[0017] In one embodiment, the first shell wall portion is arranged above the heating wire, and the heating wire directly heats the first shell wall portion.

[0018] In one embodiment, the inner housing includes a passage communicating with the vacuum chamber. After the alkali metal is placed in the vacuum chamber, the passage is evacuated and then sealed to form the alkali metal source assembly.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the present utility model provides an atomic or molecular gas cell. By optimizing the structural design of the inner housing in the alkali metal source assembly, the alkali metal source assembly is independent of the outer housing serving as the gas cell. By directly or indirectly heating to break the inner housing that seals the alkali metal in the alkali metal source assembly, the alkali metal inside is released into the gas chamber of the outer housing to form an atomic or molecular gas cell, having the following beneficial effects:

[0020] 1. When adding the alkali metal, the alkali metal source assembly (alkali metal + inner housing) can be independently separated from the alkali metal cell (a sealed gas chamber formed by the outer housing). The process is simple, the production efficiency can be improved, and assembly line operation can be realized.

[0021] 2. The release of the alkali metal does not require external pressure. The alkali metal source can be placed in a vacuum chamber, and the overall volume can be controlled to millimeter size.

[0022] 3. The inner housing includes glass materials with different melting points. The glass materials themselves have low costs. In addition, different glass materials can be selected according to different usage scenarios, so that they will not melt again during use after melting, causing system blockage or contaminating the inside of the system. When releasing, the orientation of the gas cell is fixed, and the glass of the melted inner housing is piled up at a certain position in the gas cell by gravity. The melted glass will adhere to the inside of the gas cell as a whole due to its own viscosity, so that there will be no problem of debris falling off and blocking the system during subsequent system movement. Low-temperature glass surfaces and their quantities can be set on the inner housing according to actual needs, thereby controlling the release direction of alkali metal atoms.

[0023] 4. The energy component for releasing the alkali metal can directly or indirectly provide energy. The type selection of the energy component is wide, and the system has high applicability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] In order to more clearly illustrate the specific embodiments of the present utility model or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the specific embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the following drawings are some embodiments of the present utility model. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0025] Figure 1 It is the atomic or molecular gas cell of the first embodiment of the present utility model.

[0026] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the alkali metal source assembly in the first embodiment of the present utility model.

[0027] Figure 3 This is the atomic or molecular gas chamber of the second embodiment of the present utility model.

[0028] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the alkali metal source assembly in the second embodiment of the present utility model.

[0029] Figure 5 This is the atomic or molecular gas chamber of the third embodiment of the present utility model.

[0030] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the alkali metal source assembly in the third embodiment of the present utility model. Detailed implementation manners

[0031] To further understand the purpose, structure, characteristics, and functions of the present utility model, the following is a detailed description in conjunction with embodiments.

[0032] In the description of the present utility model, it should be noted that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings. It is only for the convenience of describing the present utility model and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation to the present utility model.

[0033] The purpose of the present utility model is to provide an atomic or molecular gas chamber, which pre-packages alkali metal in an inner shell as an alkali metal source assembly, and then packages the alkali metal source assembly in an outer shell. Energy is provided by an energy assembly to break a part of the inner shell to release the alkali metal located in the inner shell into the receiving cavity of the outer shell to form an atomic or molecular gas chamber.

[0034] As Figure 1 and Figure 2 shown, in the first embodiment of the present utility model, an atomic or molecular gas chamber is provided, which includes an alkali metal source assembly 200 and an outer shell 100. The alkali metal source assembly 200 includes an inner shell 210 and an alkali metal 220 received in the vacuum cavity of the inner shell 210. The inner shell 210 includes a first shell wall portion 211 and a second shell wall portion 212 connected to each other. The melting points of the first shell wall portion 211 and the second shell wall portion 212 are different; the alkali metal source assembly 200 is sealed in the receiving cavity of the outer shell 100; wherein, the first shell wall portion 211 and the second shell wall portion 212 are respectively hard shells. By heating and melting one of the first shell wall portion 211 and the second shell wall portion 212, the alkali metal 220 is released into the receiving cavity of the outer shell 100 to obtain the above-mentioned atomic or molecular gas chamber.

[0035] In this embodiment, the rigid housing corresponding to the first housing wall portion 211 and the second housing wall portion 212 is a glass housing. It can be understood that a partial area of the glass housing corresponding to the first housing wall portion 211 is low-melting-point glass, and a partial area of the glass housing corresponding to the second housing wall portion 212 is high-melting-point glass.

[0036] Referring to Figure 2 As shown, the inner housing 210 is in a cube or cuboid structure. It should be noted that in actual use, it can also be other shapes, such as a hollow structure like a cylinder.

[0037] Continuing to refer to Figure 2 , in this embodiment, the cube-shaped inner housing 210 includes a first housing wall portion 211 located at the top and a second housing wall portion 212 located in other areas except the top. That is, five second housing wall portions 212 and one first housing wall portion 211 constitute the inner housing 210. However, it can be understood that in other embodiments of the present utility model, the cube-shaped inner housing may, for example, include a first housing wall portion with a low melting point, a second housing wall portion with a high melting point, and a third housing wall portion. Among them, the third housing wall portion can be a rigid housing or a flexible housing, and it is used to connect the first housing wall portion and the second housing wall portion. When the third housing wall portion is a rigid housing, the melting point of the third housing wall portion can be between the melting point of the first housing wall portion and the melting point of the second housing wall portion.

[0038] In addition, in this embodiment, the high-melting-point glass and the low-melting-point glass are only relative. After the low-melting-point glass is heated and melted, according to the actual use scenario requirements, the high-melting-point glass can also be selected to be capable of being heated and melted, or the high-melting-point glass can be selected to be incapable of being heated and melted.

[0039] Continuing to refer to Figure 2 , the inner housing 210 includes a channel 230 communicating with the vacuum chamber. After the alkali metal 220 is placed in the vacuum chamber, the vacuum is pumped through the channel 230, and the channel 230 is sealed to form the alkali metal source assembly 200. Among them, the channel 230 is provided on the second housing wall portion 212.

[0040] In this embodiment, the process of manufacturing the alkali metal source assembly 200 with the cube-shaped inner housing 210 is as follows:

[0041] First, select 6 glass surfaces. Among them, the materials of 5 glass surfaces (corresponding to 5 second housing wall portions) are high-melting-point glass, and the material of 1 glass surface (corresponding to 1 first housing wall portion) is a low-melting-point glass surface that is much lower than the other 5 high-melting-point glass surfaces. Bond the 6 glass surfaces to form the inner housing 210;

[0042] Next, a small hole (corresponding to the channel) is opened on one of the high-melting-point glass surfaces. After placing the alkali metal 220 to be installed into the inner housing 210, vacuum is pumped or inert gas is filled through the small hole, and then the small hole is sealed to form the alkali metal source assembly 200.

[0043] Referring to Figure 1 , in this embodiment, the atomic or molecular gas chamber further includes an energy component, and the energy component is a laser 300. It is arranged outside the outer housing 100 and is used to indirectly heat and melt the first shell wall portion 211 to release the alkali metal 220 into the outer housing 100, thereby forming an alkali metal atomic or molecular gas chamber.

[0044] In this embodiment, the outer housing 100 is drawn as a cube shape. In actual use, the outer housing 100 can be of any other shape. Preferably, the outer housing 100 is a transparent housing that allows light to pass through.

[0045] Continuing to refer to Figure 1 , the first shell wall portion 211 on the inner housing 210 is located on the light emission path of the laser 300, and the first shell wall portion 211 is perpendicular to the direction in which the light of the laser 300 perpendicularly emits, so as to ensure that it is fully heated and melted after receiving the light emitted by the laser 300.

[0046] In this embodiment, the process of manufacturing the alkali metal gas chamber is as follows:

[0047] First, a laser 300 with a rated power is provided, and the required alkali metal source assembly is placed into another glass chamber (corresponding to the outer housing 100) that needs to be placed in a single gas environment. Among them, the top surface of the glass chamber facing the laser 300 is a polished surface;

[0048] Secondly, the low-melting-point glass surface (corresponding to the first shell wall portion 211) of the alkali metal source assembly 200 is oriented towards the polished wafer, the laser 300 is turned on, and the laser passes through the polished surface on the glass chamber and is incident on the low-melting-point glass surface of the inner housing of the alkali metal source assembly 200. The low-melting-point glass surface is melted, and the alkali metal pool 220 in the alkali metal source assembly 200 is released to form an alkali metal atomic or molecular gas chamber.

[0049] As Figure 3 and Figure 4 shown, in the second embodiment of the present invention, an atomic or molecular gas chamber is further provided, and the difference between it and the atomic or molecular gas chamber in the first embodiment shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 is that the position and number of the first shell wall portions 211 on the inner housing 210 are different.

[0050] Referring to Figure 4, the number of the second shell walls 211 is two, and the two second shell walls 211 are arranged opposite to and parallel with each other. The two second shell walls 211 are parallel and located on both sides of the direction in which the light of the laser 300 exits vertically. Among them, after the two second shell walls 211 arranged opposite to and parallel with each other are heated and melted, the alkali metal source assembly 220 can also be released into the outer housing 210.

[0051] As Figure 5 and Figure 6 shown, in the third embodiment of the present invention, an atomic or molecular gas chamber is further provided, and the difference between it and the atomic or molecular gas chamber in the first embodiment shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 is that the energy component is arranged inside the outer housing 100. The energy component is, for example, a heating wire 400, and the heating wire 400 is used to provide energy to directly heat the first shell wall 211 on the inner housing 210. Among them, the first shell wall 211 is, for example, located at the bottom of the cubic inner housing 210.

[0052] The heating wire 400 is, for example, a metal heating wire, and it is arranged in a shape of reciprocating bends inside the outer housing 100.

[0053] In this embodiment, the outer housing 100 can be a metal material housing or a non-metal material housing such as ceramics. When manufacturing the outer housing 100, a groove needs to be etched on the inner surface of the bottom of the outer housing 100, and then the metal heating wire is embedded into the groove to maintain the flatness of the outer housing 100.

[0054] Compared with the prior art, the present invention provides an atomic or molecular gas chamber. By optimizing the structural design of the inner housing in the alkali metal source assembly, the alkali metal source assembly is independent of the outer housing serving as the gas chamber. By directly or indirectly heating to break the inner housing that seals the alkali metal in the alkali metal source assembly, the alkali metal inside is released into the gas chamber of the outer housing to form an atomic or molecular gas chamber, and it has the following beneficial effects:

[0055] 1. When adding alkali metal, the alkali metal source assembly (alkali metal + inner housing) can be independently separated from the alkali metal pool (the sealed gas chamber formed by the outer housing). The process is simple, the production efficiency can be improved, and the production line can realize flow operation;

[0056] 2. The release of the alkali metal does not require external pressure. The alkali metal source can be placed in a vacuum chamber, and the entire volume can be controlled to the millimeter size;

[0057] 3. The inner shell includes glass materials with different melting points, and the glass materials themselves have low costs. Additionally, different glass materials can be selected according to different usage scenarios to ensure that they will not melt again during use after melting, causing system blockage or contaminating the interior of the system. When releasing, the orientation of the fixed gas chamber is maintained, and gravity is used to stack the melted glass of the inner shell at a certain position in the gas chamber. The melted glass will adhere to the interior of the gas chamber as a whole due to its own viscosity, so that there will be no problem of debris falling off and blocking the system during subsequent system movement. Low-temperature glass surfaces and their quantities can be set on the inner shell according to actual needs, thereby controlling the direction of alkali metal atom release.

[0058] 4. The energy component for releasing alkali metals can directly or indirectly provide energy. The type of energy component has a wide selection, and the system has high applicability.

[0059] The present utility model has been described by the above related embodiments. However, the above embodiments are only examples for implementing the present utility model. In addition, the technical features involved in different embodiments of the present utility model described above can be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other. It must be pointed out that the disclosed embodiments do not limit the scope of the present utility model. On the contrary, all modifications and refinements made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present utility model fall within the scope of patent protection of the present utility model.

Claims

1. An atomic or molecular gas cell, characterized in that: The atomic or molecular gas chamber comprises: An alkali metal source assembly, the alkali metal source assembly comprising: an inner shell and an alkali metal contained in a vacuum chamber of the inner shell, the inner shell comprising a first shell wall portion and a second shell wall portion connected to each other, the first shell wall portion having a melting point lower than a melting point of the second shell wall portion; and An outer shell, wherein the alkali metal source assembly is sealed in a receiving cavity of the outer shell; The first shell wall portion and the second shell wall portion are hard shells respectively. The first shell wall portion is heated and melted to release the alkali metal into the outer shell to obtain the atomic or molecular gas chamber.

2. The atomic or molecular gas cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: The hard shell is a glass shell.

3. The atomic or molecular gas cell according to claim 2, characterized in that: A partial area of ​​the glass shell corresponding to the first shell wall portion is made of low-melting-point glass, and a partial area of ​​the glass shell corresponding to the second shell wall portion is made of high-melting-point glass.

4. The atomic or molecular gas cell according to claim 3, characterized in that: It also includes an energy component, which is arranged outside or inside the outer shell and is used to directly or indirectly heat and melt the first shell wall portion.

5. The atomic or molecular gas cell according to claim 4, characterized in that: The energy component is a laser, and the laser is arranged outside the outer shell; the outer shell is a transparent outer shell; wherein the laser emits laser light, and the laser light passes through the transparent outer shell to irradiate and heat and melt the first shell wall portion.

6. The atomic or molecular gas cell according to claim 5, characterized in that: The first shell wall portion faces the laser emission direction of the laser.

7. The atomic or molecular gas cell according to claim 5, characterized in that: The first shell wall portion is parallel to the laser emission direction of the laser, and the first shell wall portion includes two parallel and opposite first shell wall portions.

8. The atomic or molecular gas cell according to claim 4, characterized in that: The energy component is a heating wire, which is arranged on the inner surface of the outer shell facing the storage cavity, and the heating wire directly contacts and heats and melts the first shell wall portion.

9. The atomic or molecular gas cell according to claim 8, characterized in that: The first shell wall portion is arranged above the heating wire, and the heating wire directly heats the first shell wall portion.

10. The atomic or molecular gas cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: The inner shell includes a channel connected to the vacuum chamber. After the alkali metal is placed in the vacuum chamber, the channel is evacuated or filled with an inert atmosphere, and the channel is sealed to form the alkali metal source assembly.

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