Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1812.03027 · Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

Phase response of atom interferometers based on sequential Bragg diffractions

Boris Décamps, Maxime Bordoux, J Alibert, Baptiste Allard, A. Gauguet

Published Nov 14, 2018• 7 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract Large momentum transfer (LMT) beam splitters are implemented in atom interferometers to increase their sensitivity. However, an LMT interferometer requires additional light pulses to modify the response function of the atom interferometer. In this paper, we develop an analytical model for the sensitivity function of LMT interferometers using sequential accelerating light pulses. We use the sensitivity function to calculate the acceleration sensitivity taking into account the pulse duration. In addition, the sensitivity to laser phase fluctuations is calculated, and we show that the pulse sequence can be engineered to mitigate the phase noise sensitivity.

DOI
10.1088/1361-6455/aaf0be

Related papers

Robust atom optics for Bragg atom interferometry

Garrett Louie, Zilin Chen, Tejas Deshpande +1 more

Abstract Multi-photon Bragg diffraction is a powerful method for fast, coherent momentum transfer of atom waves. However, laser noise, Doppler detunings, and cloud expansion limit its efficiency in large momentum transfer (LMT) pulse sequences. We present simulation studies of robust Bragg pulses developed through numerical quantum optimal control. Optimized pulse performance under noise and cloud inhomogeneities is analyzed and compared to analogous Gaussian and adiabatic rapid passage pulses in simulated LMT Mach–Zehnder interferometry sequences. The optimized pulses maintain robust population transfer and phase response over a broader range of noise, resulting in superior contrast in LMT sequences with thermal atom clouds and intensity inhomogeneities. Large optimized LMT sequences use lower pulse area than Gaussian pulses, making them less susceptible to spontaneous emission loss. The optimized sequences maintain over five times better contrast with tens of ℏ k momentum separation and offer more improvement with greater LMT. Such pulses could allow operation of Bragg atom interferometers with unprecedented sensitivity, improved contrast, and hotter atom sources.

arXiv:2303.16950•New Journal of Physics•Jul 27, 2023•18 citations

Large-Momentum-Transfer Atom Interferometers with μ rad -Accuracy Using Bragg Diffraction

Jan-Niclas Kirsten-Siemß, Florian Fitzek, Christian Schubert +3 more

Large-momentum-transfer (LMT) atom interferometers using elastic Bragg scattering on light waves are among the most precise quantum sensors to date. To advance their accuracy from the mrad to the μrad regime, it is necessary to understand the rich phenomenology of the Bragg interferometer, which differs significantly from that of a standard two-mode interferometer. We develop an analytic model for the interferometer signal and demonstrate its accuracy using comprehensive numerical simulations. Our analytic treatment allows the determination of the atomic projection noise limit of a LMT Bragg interferometer and provides the means to saturate this limit. It affords accurate knowledge of the systematic phase errors as well as their suppression by 2 orders of magnitude down to a few μrad using appropriate light-pulse parameters.

arXiv:2208.06647•Physical Review Letters•Jul 19, 2023•22 citations

Improving the phase response of an atom interferometer by means of temporal pulse shaping

Bess Fang, N. Mielec, Denis Savoie +3 more

We study theoretically and experimentally the influence of temporally shaping the light pulses in an atom interferometer, with a focus on the phase response of the interferometer. We show that smooth light pulse shapes allow rejecting high frequency phase fluctuations (above the Rabi frequency) and thus relax the requirements on the phase noise or frequency noise of the interrogation lasers driving the interferometer. The light pulse shape is also shown to modify the scale factor of the interferometer, which has to be taken into account in the evaluation of its accuracy budget. We discuss the trade-offs to operate when choosing a particular pulse shape, by taking into account phase noise rejection, velocity selectivity, and applicability to large momentum transfer atom interferometry.

arXiv:1712.08110•New Journal of Physics•Dec 21, 2017•35 citations

102ℏk Large Area Atom Interferometers

Sheng‐wey Chiow, Tim Kovachy, Hui-Chun Chien +1 more

We demonstrate atom interferometers utilizing a novel beam splitter based on sequential multiphoton Bragg diffractions. With this sequential Bragg large momentum transfer (SB-LMT) beam splitter, we achieve high contrast atom interferometers with momentum splittings of up to 102 photon recoil momenta (102ℏk). To our knowledge, this is the highest momentum splitting achieved in any atom interferometer, advancing the state-of-the-art by an order of magnitude. We also demonstrate strong noise correlation between two simultaneous SB-LMT interferometers, which alleviates the need for ultralow noise lasers and ultrastable inertial environments in some future applications. Our method is intrinsically scalable and can be used to dramatically increase the sensitivity of atom interferometers in a wide range of applications, including inertial sensing, measuring the fine structure constant, and detecting gravitational waves.

Physical Review Letters•Sep 19, 2011•291 citations

Cumulative fidelity of LMT clock atom interferometers in the presence of laser noise

Yijun Jiang, Jason M. Hogan, Jan Rudolph

Clock atom interferometry is an emerging technique in precision measurement, well suited for sensitivity enhancement through large momentum transfer (LMT). Although next-generation sensors aim for LMT factors beyond $10^4$, their feasibility has been questioned due to potential impacts of laser frequency noise. We address this concern by analyzing the cumulative fidelity of sequential state inversions, showing that population error scales linearly with pulse number, not quadratically. Parasitic interferometer paths from imperfect pulses contribute negligibly, confirming that laser frequency noise is not a practical limitation.

Optical and Quantum Sensing and Precision Metrology II•Mar 5, 2026•0 citations

Large Momentum Beam Splitter Using Bloch Oscillations

Pierre Cladé, Saïda Guellati-Khélifa, F. Nez +1 more

The sensitivity of an inertial sensor based on an atomic interferometer is proportional to the velocity separation of atoms in the two arms of the interferometer. In this Letter we describe how Bloch oscillations can be used to increase this separation and to create a large momentum transfer (LMT) beam splitter. We experimentally demonstrate a separation of 10 recoil velocities. Light shifts during the acceleration introduce phase fluctuations which can reduce the fringes contrast. We precisely calculate this effect and demonstrate that it can be significantly reduced by using a suitable combination of LMT pulses. We finally show that this method seems to be very promising to realize a LMT beam splitter with several tens of recoils and a very good efficiency.

arXiv:0903.3511•Physical Review Letters•Jun 18, 2009•148 citations
Abstract Large momentum transfer (LMT) beam splitters are implemented in atom interferometers to increase their sensitivity. However, an LMT interferometer requires additional light pulses to modify the response function of the atom interferometer. In this paper, we develop an analytical model for the sensitivity function of LMT interferometers using sequential accelerating light pulses. We use the sensitivity function to calculate the acceleration sensitivity taking into account the pulse duration. In addition, the sensitivity to laser phase fluctuations is calculated, and we show that the pulse sequence can be engineered to mitigate the phase noise sensitivity.
Abstract Multi-photon Bragg diffraction is a powerful method for fast, coherent momentum transfer of atom waves. However, laser noise, Doppler detunings, and cloud expansion limit its efficiency in large momentum transfer (LMT) pulse sequences. We present simulation studies of robust Bragg pulses developed through numerical quantum optimal control. Optimized pulse performance under noise and cloud inhomogeneities is analyzed and compared to analogous Gaussian and adiabatic rapid passage pulses in simulated LMT Mach–Zehnder interferometry sequences. The optimized pulses maintain robust population transfer and phase response over a broader range of noise, resulting in superior contrast in LMT sequences with thermal atom clouds and intensity inhomogeneities. Large optimized LMT sequences use lower pulse area than Gaussian pulses, making them less susceptible to spontaneous emission loss. The optimized sequences maintain over five times better contrast with tens of ℏ k momentum separation and offer more improvement with greater LMT. Such pulses could allow operation of Bragg atom interferometers with unprecedented sensitivity, improved contrast, and hotter atom sources.
Large-momentum-transfer (LMT) atom interferometers using elastic Bragg scattering on light waves are among the most precise quantum sensors to date. To advance their accuracy from the mrad to the μrad regime, it is necessary to understand the rich phenomenology of the Bragg interferometer, which differs significantly from that of a standard two-mode interferometer. We develop an analytic model for the interferometer signal and demonstrate its accuracy using comprehensive numerical simulations. Our analytic treatment allows the determination of the atomic projection noise limit of a LMT Bragg interferometer and provides the means to saturate this limit. It affords accurate knowledge of the systematic phase errors as well as their suppression by 2 orders of magnitude down to a few μrad using appropriate light-pulse parameters.
We study theoretically and experimentally the influence of temporally shaping the light pulses in an atom interferometer, with a focus on the phase response of the interferometer. We show that smooth light pulse shapes allow rejecting high frequency phase fluctuations (above the Rabi frequency) and thus relax the requirements on the phase noise or frequency noise of the interrogation lasers driving the interferometer. The light pulse shape is also shown to modify the scale factor of the interferometer, which has to be taken into account in the evaluation of its accuracy budget. We discuss the trade-offs to operate when choosing a particular pulse shape, by taking into account phase noise rejection, velocity selectivity, and applicability to large momentum transfer atom interferometry.
We demonstrate atom interferometers utilizing a novel beam splitter based on sequential multiphoton Bragg diffractions. With this sequential Bragg large momentum transfer (SB-LMT) beam splitter, we achieve high contrast atom interferometers with momentum splittings of up to 102 photon recoil momenta (102ℏk). To our knowledge, this is the highest momentum splitting achieved in any atom interferometer, advancing the state-of-the-art by an order of magnitude. We also demonstrate strong noise correlation between two simultaneous SB-LMT interferometers, which alleviates the need for ultralow noise lasers and ultrastable inertial environments in some future applications. Our method is intrinsically scalable and can be used to dramatically increase the sensitivity of atom interferometers in a wide range of applications, including inertial sensing, measuring the fine structure constant, and detecting gravitational waves.
Clock atom interferometry is an emerging technique in precision measurement, well suited for sensitivity enhancement through large momentum transfer (LMT). Although next-generation sensors aim for LMT factors beyond 10410^4104, their feasibility has been questioned due to potential impacts of laser frequency noise. We address this concern by analyzing the cumulative fidelity of sequential state inversions, showing that population error scales linearly with pulse number, not quadratically. Parasitic interferometer paths from imperfect pulses contribute negligibly, confirming that laser frequency noise is not a practical limitation.
The sensitivity of an inertial sensor based on an atomic interferometer is proportional to the velocity separation of atoms in the two arms of the interferometer. In this Letter we describe how Bloch oscillations can be used to increase this separation and to create a large momentum transfer (LMT) beam splitter. We experimentally demonstrate a separation of 10 recoil velocities. Light shifts during the acceleration introduce phase fluctuations which can reduce the fringes contrast. We precisely calculate this effect and demonstrate that it can be significantly reduced by using a suitable combination of LMT pulses. We finally show that this method seems to be very promising to realize a LMT beam splitter with several tens of recoils and a very good efficiency.