Ultra-cold atoms are excellent sensors of time, magnetic field and vacuum, obeying quantum -mechanics rules. Physicists could use these ultra-cold atoms to sense even the weakest magnetic fields in the room, or to build a clock with an accuracy of four-billionth of a second. But they probably couldn’t get these sensors or clocks out of their lab.
Now, a team of physicists from the University of Nottingham have shown that 3D printing parts for these ultra-cold quantum experiments allows them to shrink their device down to just a third of its usual size. This could be a more accessible way to create smaller, more stable, and personalized experiment setups.
The Nottingham team’s experiment does not take an entire table – it has a volume of 0.15 cubic meters. To build it, Somaya Madkhaly and her colleagues embarked on something like a very customizable Lego set, that’s very small. Typically, they work on a 5-by-8-foot table covered with a maze of mirrors and lenses (optical components) that guide and manipulate light as it travels through millions of atoms, often which are stored in an ultra-high vacuum chamber. They almost reduced the size by about 70% compared to the conventional setup. Instead of buying parts, they assembled their setup from blocks that they 3D printed to be shaped exactly the way they wanted.
Thus, 3D printing helps ultra-cold quantum experiments get smaller!