AION-10: Technical Design Report for a 10m Atom Interferometer in Oxford
Abstract
This Technical Design Report presents AION-10, a 10-meter atom interferometer to be located at Oxford University using ultracold strontium atoms to make precision measurements of fundamental physics. AION-10 serves as both a prototype for future larger-scale experiments and a versatile scientific instrument capable of conducting its own diverse physics programme. The design features a 10-meter vertical tower housing two atom interferometer sources in an ultra-high vacuum environment. Key engineering challenges include achieving nanometer-level vibrational stability and precise magnetic field control. Solutions include active vibration isolation, specialized magnetic shielding, and a modular assembly approach using professional lifting equipment. Detailed analysis confirms the design meets all performance requirements, with critical optical components remaining within our specifications 97% of the time under realistic operating conditions. Vacuum and vibration measurements in the host building validate that the instrument will achieve the precision needed for quantum sensing applications. This work establishes the technical foundation for scaling atom interferometry to longer baselines while creating a cutting-edge facility for precision measurements that could advance our understanding of fundamental physics.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2508.03491,
title = {AION-10: Technical Design Report for a 10m Atom Interferometer in Oxford},
author = {K. Bongs and A. Brzakalik and U. Chauhan and S. Dey and O. Ennis and S. Hedges and T. Hird and M. Holynski and S. Lellouch and M. Langlois and B. Stray and B. Bostwick and J. Chen and Z. Eyler and V. Gibson and T. L. Harte and C. C. Hsu and M. Karzazi and C. Lu and B. Millward and J. Mitchell and N. Mouelle and B. Panchumarthi and J. Scheper and U. Schneider and X. Su and Y. Tang and K. Tkalčec and M. Zeuner and S. Zhang and Y. Zhi and K. Clarke and A. Vick and C. F. A. Baynham and O. Buchmüller and D. Evans and L. Hawkins and R. Hobson and L. Iannizzotto-Venezze and A. Josset and D. Lee and E. Pasatembou and B. E. Sauer and M. R. Tarbutt and T. Walker and L. Badurina and A. Beniwal and D. Blas and J. Carlton and J. Ellis and C. McCabe and G. Parish and D. Pathak Govardhan and V. Vaskonen and T. Bowcock and K. Bridges and A. Carroll and J. Coleman and G. Elertas and S. Hindley and C. Metelko and H. Throssell and J. N. Tinsley and E. Bentine and M. Booth and D. Bortoletto and C. Foot and N. Callaghan and C. Gomez-Monedero and K. Hughes and A. James and T. Leese and A. Lowe and J. March-Russell and J. Sander and J. Schelfhout and I. Shipsey and D. Weatherill and D. Wood and S. N. Balashov and M. G. Bason and K. Hussain and H. Labiad and P. Majewski and A. L. Marchant and D. Newbold and Z. Pan and Z. Tam and T. C. Thornton and T. Valenzuela and M. G. D. van der Grinten and I. Wilmut},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.03491},
year = {2025}
}