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arXiv:1804.10376 · Physical Review A

Compact gravimeter with an ensemble of ultracold atoms in spin-dependent optical lattices

Yongguan Ke, Jiahao Huang, Min Zhuang, Bo Lü, Chaohong Lee

Published Nov 19, 2018• 12 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Atomic interferometry in optical lattices is a new trend for developing a practical quantum gravimeter. Here, we propose a compact and portable gravimetry scheme with an ensemble of ultracold atoms in gravitationally tilted spin-dependent optical lattices. The fast coherent separation and recombination of atoms can be realized via polarization-synthesized optical lattices. The input atomic wave packet is coherently split into two parts by a spin-dependent shift and a subsequent $\frac{\ensuremath{\pi}}{2}$ pulse. Then the two parts are held for accumulating a relative phase related to the gravity. Lastly the two parts are recombined for interference by a $\frac{\ensuremath{\pi}}{2}$ pulse and a subsequent spin-dependent shift. The $\frac{\ensuremath{\pi}}{2}$ pulses not only preclude the spin-dependent energies in the accumulated phase, but also avoid the error sources, such as dislocation of optical lattices in the holding process. In addition, we develop an analytical method for the sensitivity in multipath interferometry.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.98.053826

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Atomic interferometry in optical lattices is a new trend for developing a practical quantum gravimeter. Here, we propose a compact and portable gravimetry scheme with an ensemble of ultracold atoms in gravitationally tilted spin-dependent optical lattices. The fast coherent separation and recombination of atoms can be realized via polarization-synthesized optical lattices. The input atomic wave packet is coherently split into two parts by a spin-dependent shift and a subsequent \ensuremathπ2\frac{\ensuremath{\pi}}{2}2\ensuremathπ​ pulse. Then the two parts are held for accumulating a relative phase related to the gravity. Lastly the two parts are recombined for interference by a \ensuremathπ2\frac{\ensuremath{\pi}}{2}2\ensuremathπ​ pulse and a subsequent spin-dependent shift. The \ensuremathπ2\frac{\ensuremath{\pi}}{2}2\ensuremathπ​ pulses not only preclude the spin-dependent energies in the accumulated phase, but also avoid the error sources, such as dislocation of optical lattices in the holding process. In addition, we develop an analytical method for the sensitivity in multipath interferometry.
We present a scheme of a compact atomic gravimeter based on atom interferometry. Atoms are maintained against gravity using a sequence of coherent accelerations performed by the Bloch oscillations technique. We demonstrate a sensitivity of $4.8\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}$ with an integration time of 4 min. Combining this method with an atomic elevator allows us to measure the local gravity at different positions in the vacuum chamber. This method can be of relevance to improve the measurement of the Newtonian gravitational constant GGG.
Atom interferometers are quantum mechanical devices sensitive to gravitational and inertial forces, with applications in fundamental physics and inertial sensing in the field. Their performance is currently limited by the interrogation time available to freely falling atoms in Earth’s gravitational field, as well as noise due to mechanical and acoustic vibrations. Our experiment probes gravitational potentials by holding, rather than dropping, atoms. We realize an interrogation time of 20 seconds by suspending the spatially separated atomic wave packets in an optical lattice. This record coherence is enabled by the smooth lattice wave fronts, which are mode-filtered by an optical cavity. This trapped geometry suppresses phase variance due to vibrations by three to four orders of magnitude, overcoming the dominant noise source in atom-interferometric gravimeters. The later part of the talk describes recent progress in characterizing and reducing dephasing of the interferometer. An upgraded optical lattice interferometer experiment is currently being commissioned, with the goal of increased sensitivity to gravity.
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A light-pulse atom interferometer for inertial sensing applications such as gravimetry is being commissioned, where the prototype has a target relative precision (σ g /g) of one part per million to enable geophysics applications, which is three orders of magnitude less sensitive than commercial optical gravimeters, but with the potential to exceed these. As part of this, a rubidium-85 magneto-optical trap was upgraded using optical amplification and fibre optics to capture an atom population number of O(10 8 ) and sub-Doppler cooling techniques have been used to reach ultracold temperatures of 20 μK. Several interferometer subsystems have been developed, including extensive optical systems featuring a high-specification optical modulator and laser-induced fluorescence detection. Preliminary investigations into the coherent manipulation of atomic states have been implemented and the resonance peak of a stimulated Raman transition has been observed.
Precision interferometry with atomic wavepackets confined in a one-dimensional optical lattice is an emergent paradigm in quantum sensing of forces and fields, with applications in gravimetry, accelerometry, geophysics, and fundamental physics tests. We report on the realization of a lattice-trapped interferometer where the two arms are sourced from a weakly-interacting ytterbium Bose-Einstein condensate, coherently split and trapped by pulsed optical standing waves before recombination. We directly observe atomic interactions through contrast changes and phase shifts of the interferometer. By changing either the atom number or the sample volume to vary the density, we demonstrate control over interactions and optimize interferometer performance. Our observations are effectively captured by a mean-field theoretical model of the system. This work experimentally probes the boundary where improved performance from source brightening through higher phase space density transitions into a regime beyond single-atom physics in lattice-trapped atom interferometry, and opens a door to incorporating many-body effects for metrological advances in such platforms.
We present a precision gravimeter based on coherent Bragg diffraction of freely falling cold atoms. Traditionally, atomic gravimeters have used stimulated Raman transitions to separate clouds in momentum space by driving transitions between two internal atomic states. Bragg interferometers utilize only a single internal state, and can therefore be less susceptible to environmental perturbations. Here we show that atoms extracted from a magneto-optical trap using an accelerating optical lattice are a suitable source for a Bragg atom interferometer, allowing efficient beamsplitting and subsequent separation of momentum states for detection. Despite the inherently multi-state nature of atom diffraction, we are able to build a Mach–Zehnder interferometer using Bragg scattering which achieves a sensitivity to the gravitational acceleration of Δ g / g = 2.7 × 10 −9 with an integration time of 1000 s. The device can also be converted to a gravity gradiometer by a simple modification of the light pulse sequence.