About

A research company working on a specific problem

Overtone Photonics was founded to bring atomic sensing out of the laboratory and onto platforms where conventional radio hardware struggles.

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Approach

The company grew out of academic work in atomic, molecular and optical physics. The underlying measurement is well established in research laboratories; the difficulty is making it survive contact with the real world. Our work concentrates on the things that usually limit performance outside a controlled environment: thermal stability, magnetic shielding, mechanical rigidity, polarisation control and reliable optical referencing.

We work in the open where we can. Much of the surrounding ecosystem in experimental physics is open hardware, and we intend our instruments to integrate cleanly with the systems research groups already use.

The name

An overtone is a harmonic above a fundamental tone. It is also a real spectroscopic technique. The two lasers used to prepare the atoms in our receiver happen to sit close to a musical interval of a major sixth, a ratio of five to three; the mark above is those two frequencies drawn as standing waves.

Collaboration

We are interested in working with research groups, national laboratories and industrial partners on atomic sensing and the optical subsystems it depends on. Enquiries are welcome at any stage.