Theses and Dissertations from UMD

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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    Development of the Cold Atom Vacuum Standard
    (2023) Scherschligt, Julia; Porto, Trey; Rolston, Steven; Physics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    We describe the inception, design, development, and initial results of The Cold Atom Vacuum Standard (CAVS). It has been known for many years that vacuum level limits the lifetime of a cold atom cloud; we invert this to create a vacuum pressure measurement tool based on the trapped cloud lifetime. The difference between a standard and a sensor is of great concern to metrologists: a primary standard defines a unit, and a sensor transduces it. To have a device capable of both functions is to have a calibration-free measurement tool, which is of interest to many stakeholders in academia, industry, and defense. We describe all aspects of construction of the CAVS, including a lengthy investigation of vacuum technology. We ultimately demonstrate that the device is traceable to pressure through the fundamental physics of collision cross sections, thereby elevating it to status as not just a sensor, but a standard.