Chip-Scale Combinatorial Atomic Navigator (CSCAN)

Team Member: Radwan Mohammednoor

Traditional Si based MEMS gyroscopes have the advantage of C+SWaP, large dynamic range, and fast start-up time, but lack the long-term stability. On the other hand, atomic gyroscopes are potentially more precise and robust, but extremely bulky, require long start-up, and very expensive to manufacture. In this project, we combine the advantages of MEMS fabrication and atomic operation modality to create MEMS-based atomic gyroscopes with the C+SWaP advantages of Si MEMS devices.

CSCAN_Render1          CSCAN_Render2

Atomic gyroscopes in our implementation, Folded-micro-NMRG, work on the principle of detecting precession of polarized nuclei using optical probing, utilizing Nuclei Magnetic Resonance principle. We explore novel micro scale implementations to control magnetic field, temperature as well as high level integration of optical components and detection electronics. Our approach of assembling these functional elements to a folded backbone structure paves the way to implementing a self sufficient Inertial Measurement Unit while occupying less than 1 cubic inch (20cc) in volume.

CSCAN_Figa          CSCAN_Figb