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The Atom Interferometry Observatory Network (AION) is a collaboration of seven UK institutions working on interferometry with strontium atoms. Development work on high-flux atom sources, transport and cooling of atoms, composite pulse sequences and narrow-bandwidth laser systems will be conducted in a coordinated parallel program in five dedicated laser laboratories and tested in table-top apparatus. After testing, the aim is for these sub-systems to be integrated together in a 10 m tall atom interferometer at the chosen site. The AION collaboration is linked to the MAGIS-100 strontium interferometer project in the US (contributing to the interferometry detection and readout platform, including cameras and analysis). A long-term objective is to set up a network of large-baseline atom interferometers with capability of making sensitive searches for ultralight dark matter and gravitational wave detection (with future generations of instruments). Within AION, the team at KCL investigates the applications to fundamental theoretical physics. AION is funded by the Quantum Sensors for Fundamental Physics programme of the UK Research & Innovation (STFC & EPSRC), starting in 2021. The institutions are: Imperial College and Kings College, London; Universities of Birmingham, Cambridge, Liverpool, Oxford; and the Rutherford Appleton Lab.
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