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arXiv:1609.06092 · Physical Review A

Trapped-atom interferometer with ultracold Sr atoms

Xian Zhang, R P del Aguila, Tommaso Mazzoni, N. Poli, Guglielmo Maria Tino

Published Oct 4, 2016• 55 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We report on a trapped atom interferometer based on Bragg diffraction and Bloch oscillations with alkaline-earth-metal atoms. We use a Ramsey--Bord\'e Bragg interferometer with $^{88}\mathrm{Sr}$ atoms combined with Bloch oscillations to extend the interferometer time. Thanks to a long coherence time for Bloch oscillations of $^{88}\mathrm{Sr}$ atoms, we observed interference up to 1 s evolution time in the lattice. A detailed study of decoherence sources during the Bloch phase is also presented. While still limited in sensitivity by lattice lifetime and beam inhomogeneity this result opens the way to high contrast trapped interferometers with extended interrogation time.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.94.043608

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We report on a trapped atom interferometer based on Bragg diffraction and Bloch oscillations with alkaline-earth-metal atoms. We use a Ramsey--Bord'e Bragg interferometer with 88Sr^{88}\mathrm{Sr}88Sr atoms combined with Bloch oscillations to extend the interferometer time. Thanks to a long coherence time for Bloch oscillations of 88Sr^{88}\mathrm{Sr}88Sr atoms, we observed interference up to 1 s evolution time in the lattice. A detailed study of decoherence sources during the Bloch phase is also presented. While still limited in sensitivity by lattice lifetime and beam inhomogeneity this result opens the way to high contrast trapped interferometers with extended interrogation time.
We report on the observation of Bragg diffraction of a spin-polarized ultracold 6Li^{6}\mathrm{Li}6Li Fermi gas and demonstrate a Ramsey-type matter-wave interferometer. Suppression of sss-wave collisions by the Pauli principle allows for unperturbed dynamics of the atoms in the trap for longer than 2s2\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{s}2s. Employing an echo pulse sequence, we observe coherent superpositions of momentum states which do not show any sign of decoherence during the experimentally limited observation time of $100\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{s}$. In contrast, significant decoherence is observed in the presence of a cold cloud of 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb atoms. The experiment demonstrates the feasibility of high-resolution atomic interferometry with applications for precision measurements in small volumes and near surfaces.
We report on the use of an ultracold ensemble of 87 Rb atoms trapped in a vertical lattice as a source for a quantum force sensor based on a Ramsey–Raman type interferometer. We reach spatial resolution in the low micrometer range in the vertical direction thanks to evaporative cooling down to ultracold temperatures in a crossed optical dipole trap. In this configuration, the coherence time of the atomic ensemble is degraded by inhomogeneous dephasing arising from atomic interactions. By weakening the confinement in the transverse direction only, we dilute the cloud and drastically reduce the strength of these interactions, without affecting the vertical resolution. This allows us to maintain an excellent relative sensitivity on the Bloch frequency, which is related to the local gravitational force, of 5 × 10 −6 at 1 s which integrates down to 8 × 10 −8 after one hour averaging time.
We experimentally and theoretically study Bragg diffraction as a tool for large-momentum transfer beam splitters in atom interferometry. A theoretical framework is developed to quantify the diffraction phase systematic caused by Bragg diffraction and experiments are performed to confirm these predictions using a Ramsey-Bord\\'e atom interferometer. We then develop methods to systematically cancel and reduce the diffraction phase systematic by carefully selecting Bragg diffraction parameters and utilizing Bloch oscillations. These techniques are then applied to an ongoing precision measurement of $h/m_\\text{Cs}$ for cesium, with the end goal of measuring the fine structure constant alpha\\alphaalpha. We demonstrate a high contrast simultaneous conjugate Ramsey-Bord\\'e interferometer using 5th order Bragg diffraction and 25 common mode Bloch oscillations which achieves 2.5times1062.5\\times 10^62.5times106 radians of phase. We also demonstrate an interferometer with a statistical uncertainty of deltaalpha/alpha=0.25\\delta \\alpha/\\alpha=0.25deltaalpha/alpha=0.25 ppb after 25 hours of integration time that has diffraction phase systematic error of around 1 ppb. Other sources of systematic uncertainty are also thoroughly explored and determined to better than 0.1 ppb. The techniques and theories developed in this thesis will hopefully help enable future precision measurements based on Bragg diffraction.
Atom interferometers provide a powerful tool for measuring physical constants and affirming fundamental physics with unprecedented precision. The sensitivity of atom interferometers is significantly enhanced by optical lattices and coherent atomic sources. However, their interplay gives rise to additional complexities and intriguing phenomena. Here, we report on realizing a Ramsey-Bord\'e interferometer of coherent matter waves modified by a moving optical lattice in a gravitational field, and explore a resulting multipath interference with tunable coherence. We investigate spatial correlations of atoms both within the lattice and between two arms by interferometry, and observed the emerging multiple interference peaks of the Bose-Einstein condensate with sublattice site resolution. Our findings agree well with simulations, paving the way for high-precision interferometry and exploring rich interferometer phenomena using ultracold atoms.
Abstract The results of theoretical and experimental studies aimed at the creation of matter wave interferometers with Mg atoms are presented. Atom-optical interferometers based on the Ramsey-Bordé scheme are of great interest for the development of optical frequency standards. Ultracold Mg atoms are promising for the development of an optical frequency standard with relative uncertainty and long-term frequency instability at a level of 10−17 − 10−18. A long-term frequency stability of 3·10−15 is obtained at an averaging time τ = 103 s while stabilizing the frequency of a ‘clock’ laser at 457 nm (1 S 0 → 3 P 1 transition) to narrow Ramsey-Bordé resonances of Mg atoms cooled and localized in a magneto-optical trap. The measured frequency stability is determined by the stability of the measurement system based on an optical frequency comb stabilized to the optical frequency of a Yb:YAG/I2 standard. We also present the results of theoretical studies aimed at the use of Mg atom interferometers based on Bragg diffraction for quantum sensing.
We propose and demonstrate a novel trapped-condensate interferometer using optical Bragg diffractions in a harmonic magnetic potential, which can realize a long coherence time with low dephasing. Dephasing of wave packets due to the magnetic potential is canceled by setting the interrogation time equal to the oscillation period of the harmonic potential. The harmonic potential also helps to suppress dephasing due to condensate atom-atom interactions. An interference signal with a fringe contrast of 30% is observed at an interrogation time of 58 ms. For a longer interrogation time about 100 ms, the spatial coherence of the condensate is still maintained with low dephasing, although the interference fringe is washed out by external vibrational noise.