Experimental setup to fabricate Rb-Xe gas cells for atom spin gyroscopes

Abstract

An experimental setup to fabricate atomic vapor cells for atom spin gyroscope application, containing Rb-87, Xe-129, Xe-131, N-2, and H-2, is described. The setup comprises a high-vacuum chamber, an Rb-87 ampule, a glass cell, gas lines, and a turbopump. First, the glass cell is baked for a week at 450 degrees C to reduce outgassing from the inner walls of the glass cell. Next, rubidium atoms are evaporated into the cubic glass cell. Then, the cubic glass cell is cooled to 2 degrees C to increase the amount of Rb-87 in the cubic glass cell while the vacuum chamber is heated to 100 degrees C. 6 Torr of Xe-129, 48 Torr of Xe-131, 140 Torr of N-2, and 24 Torr of H-2 are injected into the cubic glass cell. The sealing method employs pinch-off glass welding. The transverse spin relaxation times of Xe-129 and Xe-131 at a magnetic field of 6.2 mu T applied to the quantization axis are measured to be 8.1 and 16.5 s, respectively, at a cell temperature of 96 degrees C using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The pressure ratio between Xe-129 and Xe-131 is determined by comparing the output signals from our atom spin gyroscope. The signal-to-noise ratios are 2500 for Xe-129 and 3333 for Xe-131, respectively, and the expected angular random walk of the atom spin gyroscope is 0.062 degrees/h(1/2) with a 1-Hz repetition rate. (c) 2022 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).