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arXiv:1403.3485 · Physical Review Letters

Bright Solitonic Matter-Wave Interferometer

Gordon McDonald, C. C. N. Kuhn, Kyle S. Hardman, Shayne Bennetts, P. J. Everitt, P. A. Altin, J. E. Debs, J. D. Close, Nicholas P. Robins

Published Jul 2, 2014• 170 citations

Abstract

We present the first realization of a solitonic atom interferometer. A Bose-Einstein condensate of 1×10(4) atoms of rubidium-85 is loaded into a horizontal optical waveguide. Through the use of a Feshbach resonance, the s-wave scattering length of the 85Rb atoms is tuned to a small negative value. This attractive atomic interaction then balances the inherent matter-wave dispersion, creating a bright solitonic matter wave. A Mach-Zehnder interferometer is constructed by driving Bragg transitions with the use of an optical lattice colinear with the waveguide. Matter-wave propagation and interferometric fringe visibility are compared across a range of s-wave scattering values including repulsive, attractive and noninteracting values. The solitonic matter wave is found to significantly increase fringe visibility even compared with a noninteracting cloud.

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.113.013002

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We report the production of matter-wave solitons in an ultracold lithium-7 gas. The effective interaction between atoms in a Bose-Einstein condensate is tuned with a Feshbach resonance from repulsive to attractive before release in a one-dimensional optical waveguide. Propagation of the soliton without dispersion over a macroscopic distance of 1.1 millimeter is observed. A simple theoretical model explains the stability region of the soliton. These matter-wave solitons open possibilities for future applications in coherent atom optics, atom interferometry, and atom transport.

We demonstrate a horizontal, linearly guided Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer in an optical waveguide. Intended as a proof-of-principle experiment, the interferometer utilizes a Bose-Einstein condensate in the magnetically insensitive $\left|F=1,{m}_{F}=0\right\ensuremath{\rangle}$ state of

{}^{87}

Rb as an acceleration-sensitive test mass. We achieve a modest sensitivity to acceleration of $\ensuremath{\Delta}a=7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$ m/s

{}^{2}

. Our fringe visibility is as high as 38

%

in this optically guided atom interferometer. We observe a time of flight in the waveguide of over 0.5 s, demonstrating the utility of our optical guide for future sensors.

We review recent experimental and theoretical work on the creation of bright matter wave solitons in Bose–Einstein condensates. In two recent experiments, solitons are formed from Bose–Einstein condensates of 7 Li by utilizing a Feshbach resonance to switch from repulsive to attractive interactions. The solitons are made to propagate in a one-dimensional potential formed by a focused laser beam. For repulsive interactions, the wavepacket undergoes dispersive wavepacket spreading, while for attractive interactions, localized solitons are formed. In our experiment, a multi-soliton train containing up to ten solitons is observed to propagate without spreading for a duration of 2 s. Adjacent solitons are found to interact repulsively, in agreement with a calculation based on the nonlinear Schrödinger equation assuming that the soliton train is formed with an alternating phase structure. The origin of this phase structure is not entirely clear.

Bright solitons are non-dispersive wave solutions, arising in a diverse range of nonlinear, one-dimensional systems, including atomic Bose-Einstein condensates with attractive interactions. In reality, cold-atom experiments can only approach the idealized one-dimensional limit necessary for the realization of true solitons. Nevertheless, it remains possible to create bright solitary waves, the three-dimensional analogue of solitons, which maintain many of the key properties of their one-dimensional counterparts. Such solitary waves offer many potential applications and provide a rich testing ground for theoretical treatments of many-body quantum systems. Here we report the controlled formation of a bright solitary matter-wave from a Bose-Einstein condensate of (85)Rb, which is observed to propagate over a distance of ∼1.1 mm in 150 ms with no observable dispersion. We demonstrate the reflection of a solitary wave from a repulsive Gaussian barrier and contrast this to the case of a repulsive condensate, in both cases finding excellent agreement with theoretical simulations using the three-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation.