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Physical Review A

Talbot-vonLau atom interferometry with cold slow potassium

John F. Clauser, Shifang Li

Published Apr 1, 1994• 155 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A dc hot thermal and an ac-modulated cold slow potassium beam copropagate and pass through an atom de Broglie--wave interferometer, consisting of a sequence of three microfabricated diffraction gratings. Talbot-vonLau interference fringes are formed and sensed by measuring transmission with a hot wire as a function of grating position. The hot beam produces diffraction-limited shadow Moir\'e fringes, while the longer de Broglie wavelength slow beam produces interference fringes with high visibility at the fifth and sixth spatial harmonics of the shadow Moir\'e fringes.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.49.r2213

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A dc hot thermal and an ac-modulated cold slow potassium beam copropagate and pass through an atom de Broglie--wave interferometer, consisting of a sequence of three microfabricated diffraction gratings. Talbot-vonLau interference fringes are formed and sensed by measuring transmission with a hot wire as a function of grating position. The hot beam produces diffraction-limited shadow Moir'e fringes, while the longer de Broglie wavelength slow beam produces interference fringes with high visibility at the fifth and sixth spatial harmonics of the shadow Moir'e fringes.
Results of atom interferometry experiments in generalized Talbot-vonLau configurations are presented. AC modulated D2 light from diode lasers is counter-directed on a thermal potassium beam. A pA AC current of cold, slow potassium atoms is extracted through a slit in a heated mirror, transmitted through an interferometer, and ionized by a hotwire. The interferometer consists of a sequence of three planar vacuum slit diffraction gratings, microfabricated from silicon nitride membranes. Interference fringes form a Moire with the third grating and are sensed by measuring the transmission as a function of grating relative position. Different spatial Fourier components (up to 5th) in the diffraction pattern, resonant in the interferometer at different atomic velocities, may be selected via the tuning of the cooling lasers. Shifts of the patterns by gravity and rotation are evident when the vacuum chamber is tilted.
Although interferometry's earliest and most familiar use is with photons, the discovery of matter-wave (deBroglie-wave) interference for electrons demanded the development of quantum mechanics. Since then, matter-wave interferometry has been performed with neutrons, Cooper electron-pairs, and most recently, with whole atoms and diatomic molecules. This talk describes our recent high-flux atom interferometry experiments using the generalized Talbot-vonLau effect. Our interferometer consists of a sequence of three planar vacuum-slit diffraction gratings, microfabricated from silicon nitride membranes. DeBroglie-wave interference fringes are sensed by measuring the transmission of potassium atoms on a hot- wire as a function of grating relative position. Different spatial Fourier components (up to sixth) in the diffraction pattern are resonant in the interferometer at different atomic velocities (i.e., at different wavelengths). When a laser cooled slow atomic beam is incident, various different diffraction patterns are observed as a function of atomic velocity. In an alternative `Heisenberg Microscope' configuration an incident thermal beam produces a velocity average over different fringe Fourier components. AC modulated weak laser light passing through the interferometer interacts selectively with atoms at a specific velocity. The associated fringe pattern is then ac modulated and revealed by its selective destruction.
Results of high flux atom interferometry experiments with potassium in generalized Talbot-vonLau configurations are presented. The interferometer consists of a sequence of three planar vacuum slit diffraction gratings, microfabricated from silicon nitride membranes. Interference fringes are sensed by measuring the transmission of atoms on a hot-wire as a function of grating relative position. Different spatial Fourier components (up to fifth) in the diffraction pattern are resonant in the interferometer at different atomic velocities. When a laser cooled slow beam is incident, various different diffraction patterns are observed as a function of atomic velocity, selected via the tuning of D2 cooling lasers. In an alternative “Heisenberg Microscope” configuration an incident thermal beam produces a velocity average over different fringe Fourier components. Fringe patterns for each HFS component are revealed by their selective destruction by AC modulated weak Dl laser light passing through the interferometer near the middle grating. Since imaging of the fluorescent light could determine which slit an atom passes, the laser removes the fringe pattern contribution by Doppler shifted atoms at its wavelength. That contribution is thus AC modulated and detected. Shifts of the patterns by gravity and rotation are evident when the vacuum chamber is tilted.
Atom de Broglie--wave interference fringes are revealed by their selective destruction. A thermal potassium beam is transmitted through a Talbot-Lau atom interferometer. Different fringe Fourier components resonate in the interferometer at different atomic velocities. The thermal velocity distribution averages and washes out the high-frequency components. ac-modulated laser light passes through the interferometer, is scattered by atoms at one velocity, and destroys, and thereby reveals via the ac modulation, the associated high-frequency fringe contribution.
We present results of atom interferometry experiments in which spatial matter - wave interference is revealed by its selective destruction. A thermal potassium beam is transmitted through a velocity selective atom interferometer and detected. The interferometer is a sequence of three diffraction gratings. Interference fringes forming a Moire pattern with the third grating determine the transmission. The thermal beam produces a velocity average over different fringe Fourier components, each resonant in the interferometer at a different atomic velocity. AC modulated laser light passes through the interferometer, near the middle grating. Since imaging of the fluorescent light could be used to determine which slit an atom passes, the contribution to the fringe pattern by atoms at the laser`s Doppler shifted wavelength is removed. That component is thus AC modulated and detected. This {open_quotes}atom interference filter{close_quotes} resolves the K{sup 39} HFS.