NIST on a chip with alkali vapor cells: Initial results

We describe progress at NIST to develop a series of “chip-scale”, SI-traceable electromagnetic reference instruments based on microfabricated alkali vapor cells. We anticipate being able to realize the second, the meter, the volt, the ampere and the kelvin using microfabrication techniques and spectroscopic measurement of alkali atom energy levels. We report here on initial fabrication efforts to develop optical wavelength references in which atomic vapor cells are integrated with single-mode photonics.