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arXiv:2508.10968 · AVS Quantum Science

High-contrast double Bragg interferometry via detuning control

Rui LI, V. J. Martínez-Lahuerta, Naceur Gaaloul, Klemens Hammerer

Published Jan 27, 2026• 3 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We propose high-contrast Mach–Zehnder atom interferometers based on double Bragg diffraction (DBD) operating under external acceleration. To mitigate differential Doppler shifts and experimental imperfections, we introduce a tri-frequency laser scheme with dynamic detuning control. We evaluate four detuning-control strategies—conventional DBD, constant detuning, linear detuning sweep (DS-DBD), and a hybrid protocol combining detuning sweep with optimal control theory (OCT)—using exact numerical simulations and a five-level S-matrix model. The OCT strategy provides the highest robustness, maintaining contrast above 95% under realistic conditions, while the DS-DBD strategy sustains contrast above 90% for well-collimated Bose–Einstein condensates. These results offer practical pathways to high-contrast, large-momentum-transfer DBD-based interferometers for precision quantum sensing and fundamental physics tests.

DOI
10.1116/5.0302856

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We propose high-contrast Mach–Zehnder atom interferometers based on double Bragg diffraction (DBD) operating under external acceleration. To mitigate differential Doppler shifts and experimental imperfections, we introduce a tri-frequency laser scheme with dynamic detuning control. We evaluate four detuning-control strategies—conventional DBD, constant detuning, linear detuning sweep (DS-DBD), and a hybrid protocol combining detuning sweep with optimal control theory (OCT)—using exact numerical simulations and a five-level S-matrix model. The OCT strategy provides the highest robustness, maintaining contrast above 95% under realistic conditions, while the DS-DBD strategy sustains contrast above 90% for well-collimated Bose–Einstein condensates. These results offer practical pathways to high-contrast, large-momentum-transfer DBD-based interferometers for precision quantum sensing and fundamental physics tests.
This thesis develops a general theoretical and numerical framework for achieving high-contrast atom interferometry based on double Bragg diffraction (DBD). While DBD offers intrinsic symmetry, reduced sensitivity to internal-state systematics, and suitability for microgravity experiments, its performance has long been limited by imperfect diffraction and contrast loss. This work overcomes these limitations by constructing an analytic Hamiltonian description of DBD -- including Doppler effects and polarization imperfections -- and by deriving reduced two- and five-level models via a truncated Magnus-expansion approach. These models clarify the origin of AC-Stark shifts, polarization-induced errors, and Doppler selectivity, and they provide accurate predictions for realistic input momentum distributions. Building on this theoretical foundation, the thesis introduces a tri-frequency laser scheme with dynamically tunable detuning and evaluates different detuning-control strategies using a five-level S-matrix formalism. Linear detuning sweeps and optimal-control pulses are shown to provide near-ideal beam-splitter and mirror performance, respectively, ensuring robust contrast across a wide range of experimental imperfections. Complementary full three-dimensional simulations using the GPU-accelerated Universal Atom Interferometer Simulator (UATIS) incorporate interacting Bose-Einstein condensates and realistic optical potentials, revealing transverse effects and polarization-induced distortions that extend the predictions of the one-dimensional non-interacting models. Taken together, this thesis establishes a coherent theoretical and numerical framework demonstrating that, with appropriate detuning control, double-Bragg atom interferometers can achieve the robustness required for precision inertial sensing and future space-based quantum tests of fundamental physics.
We present a theoretical model and numerical optimization of double Bragg diffraction, a widely used technique in atom interferometry. We derive an effective two-level-system Hamiltonian based on the Magnus expansion in the so-called quasi-Bragg regime, where most Bragg-pulse atom interferometers operate. Furthermore, we extend the theory to a five-level description to account for Doppler detuning. Using these derived effective Hamiltonians, we investigate the impacts of AC-Stark shift and polarization errors on the double Bragg beam splitter, along with their mitigations through detuning control. Notably, we design a linear detuning sweep that demonstrates robust efficiency exceeding 99.5% against polarization errors up to 8.5%. Moreover, we develop an artificial-intelligence-aided optimal detuning control protocol, showcasing enhanced robustness against both polarization errors and Doppler effects. This protocol achieves an average efficiency of 99.92% for samples with a finite momentum width of 0.05 ℏ k L within an extended polarization error range of up to 10%. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
Bragg diffraction of matter waves is an established technique used in the most accurate quantum sensors. It is also the method of choice to operate large-momentum-transfer, high-sensitivity atom interferometers. It suffers, however, from an intrinsic multi-path character. Optimal control theory (OCT) has recently led to an improved robustness of atom interferometers to a range of challenging environmental effects such as vibrations or platform accelerations. In this theoretical work, we apply OCT protocols to control the Bragg diffraction phase shifts, thereby enhancing the metrological accuracy of the interferometer. We show a minimization of the diffraction phase for realistic conditions of finite temperature of the incoming wavepacket in a multi-path, high-order Bragg interferometer in a Mach–Zehnder configuration. We study input states with different momentum widths and find that our approach mitigates diffraction phases below the microradian level in the case of 1% of the photon recoil, thereby eliminating one of the leading systematic effects in atom interferometry.
We present a theoretical model and numerical optimization of double Bragg diffraction, a widely used technique in atom interferometry. We derive an effective two-level-system Hamiltonian based on the Magnus expansion in the so-called quasi-Bragg regime, where most Bragg-pulse atom interferometers operate. Furthermore, we extend the theory to a five-level description to account for Doppler detuning. Using these derived effective Hamiltonians, we investigate the impacts of AC-Stark shift and polarization errors on the double Bragg beam splitter, along with their mitigations through detuning control. Notably, we design a linear detuning sweep that demonstrates robust efficiency exceeding 99.5% against polarization errors up to 8.5%. Moreover, we develop an artificial-intelligence-Aided optimal detuning control protocol, showcasing enhanced robustness against both polarization errors and Doppler effects. This protocol achieves an average efficiency of 99.92% for samples with a finite momentum width of 0.05â kL within an extended polarization error range of up to 10%.
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.