UC Irvine

Atomic gyroscopes have a potential for good performance advantages and several attempts are being made to miniaturize them. This thesis describes the efforts made in implementing a Folded MEMS based NMRG. The micro implementations of all the essential components for NMRG (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Gyroscope) are described in detail in regards to their design, fabrication, and characterization. A set of micro-scale Helmholtz coils are described and the homogeneity of the generated magnetic field is analyzed for different designs of heaters. The dielectric mirrors and metallic mirrors are compared in terms of reflectivity and polarization change up on reflection. A pyramid shaped folded backbone structure is designed, fabricated, and assembled along with all the required components. A novel double-folded structure 1/4th the size of original version is fabricated and assembled. Design and modeling details of a 5 layered shield with shielding factor > 10^6 and total volume of around 90 cc are also presented. A table top setup for characterization of atomic vapor cell is described in detail. A micro vapor cell based Rb magnetometer with a sensitivity of 108pT/√Hz is demonstrated. The challenges due to DC heating are addressed and mitigated using an AC heater. Several experiments related to measuring the relaxation time of Xe are provided along with results. For Xe131, relaxation times of T1 = 23.78 sec, T2 = 18.06 sec and for Xe129, T1 = 21.65 sec and T2 = 20.45 sec are reported.