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Physical Review A

Simultaneous differential measurement of a magnetic-field gradient by atom interferometry using double fountains

Zhong-Kun Hu, Xiao‐Chun Duan, Min-Kang Zhou, Bu-Liang Sun, Jinbo Zhao, Maomao Huang, Jun Luo

Published Jul 27, 2011• 34 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Precisely measuring the magnetic-field gradient within a vacuum chamber is important for many precision experiments and can be realized by atom interferometry using magnetically sensitive sublevels at different times to make a differential measurement, which had been demonstrated in our previous work. In this paper, we demonstrate a differential method to measure the magnetic-field gradient by means of two simultaneously operated atom interferometers using double atomic fountains. By virtue of this simultaneous differential measurement to reject common-mode noise, the resolution can be improved by one order of magnitude for about a 1000-s integration time.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.84.013620

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Precisely measuring the magnetic-field gradient within a vacuum chamber is important for many precision experiments and can be realized by atom interferometry using magnetically sensitive sublevels at different times to make a differential measurement, which had been demonstrated in our previous work. In this paper, we demonstrate a differential method to measure the magnetic-field gradient by means of two simultaneously operated atom interferometers using double atomic fountains. By virtue of this simultaneous differential measurement to reject common-mode noise, the resolution can be improved by one order of magnitude for about a 1000-s integration time.
The magnetic field gradient has been measured with an atom interferometer using the magnetic sublevels of 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb atoms. The Doppler-insensitive measurement effectively eliminates the contribution from gravity and background vibration noise, and the differential measurement also can reject some systematic errors. A resolution of 300300300 pT/mm has been demonstrated with a 909090-s integration time and a spatial resolution of 1.41.41.4 mm. The gradiometer was then used to measure the magnetic field gradient in an ultrahigh-vacuum environment. The technique will also be very useful to subtract the systematic error arising from the magnetic field inhomogeneity in precision atom-interferometry experiments, such as gravity measurement.
Atom interferometers deployed in space are excellent tools for high precision measurements, navigation, or Earth observation. In particular, differential interferometric setups feature common-mode noise suppression and enable reliable measurements in the presence of ambient platform noise. Here we report on orbital magnetometry campaigns performed with differential single- and double-loop interferometers in NASA's Cold Atom Lab aboard the International Space Station. By comparing measurements with atoms in magnetically sensitive and insensitive states, we have realized atomic magnetometers mapping magnetic field curvatures. Our results pave the way towards precision quantum sensing missions in space.
Atom interferometers deployed in space are excellent tools for high precision measurements, navigation, or Earth observation. In particular, differential interferometric setups feature common-mode noise suppression and enable reliable measurements in the presence of ambient platform noise. Here we report on orbital magnetometry campaigns performed with differential single- and double-loop interferometers in NASA's Cold Atom Lab aboard the International Space Station. By comparing measurements with atoms in magnetically sensitive and insensitive states, we have realized atomic magnetometers mapping magnetic field curvatures. Our results pave the way towards precision quantum sensing missions in space.
We report a gravity gradiometer composed of two atom interferometers which are simultaneously locked to the respective fringe center by feedback control of the Raman laser phase and magnetic field gradient. Compared with the conventional full-fringe recording method, this dual-fringe-locking strategy is capable of increasing the sampling rate and improving the sensitivity for gravity gradient measurements. Meanwhile, it retains the intrinsic advantage of rejecting common mode noises for gravity gradiometers. A short-term sensitivity of 670E/Hz1/2670 \mathrm{E}/{Hz}^{1/2}670E/Hz1/2 with a 0.25 Hz sampling rate is achieved in our gravity gradiometer. This approach may also find possible applications in other atom-interferometry-based experiments utilizing dual atomic clouds.
Atom interferometer gravity gradient measurement instrument has a very high measuring resolution when atomic interference of gravity gradient experiments, the first to obtain two atoms using a magneto-optical trap, after throwing or whereabouts and realization of double groups of interference in operation, during the process of the experiment on two-atom fountain behind the speed of synchronization is the prerequisite of implementation measure, In this paper, an experimental method for adjusting the up-throw velocity of a two-atom fountain is introduced. The uniformity of up-throw velocity of a two-atom fountain is achieved by utilizing an optical beam expanding tube of a cooling laser and a geomagnetic compensation coil, which can enhance the detection noise of the atomic interference gravity gradiometer.
Atoms in magnetically sensitive sublevels constitute a natural sensor for absolute magnetic field measurements, which are explored here to form an optical Ramsey interferometer for determining the magnetic field distribution. An optical Ramsey atom interferometer provides a convenient way to map a magnetic field in vacuum. In comparison with the often used Raman spectroscopy method, a Ramsey interferometer can not only improve the sensitivity, but also dramatically suppress the contribution of the ac Stark effect. Furthermore, in this work, the magnetically sensitive atoms are velocity-selected, which improves the spatial resolution for the magnetometer as well as the contrast of the Ramsey fringes. A short-term sensitivity of 1.4nT/Hz1/21.4\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{nT/Hz}}^{1/2}1.4nT/Hz1/2 for magnetic field measurement is finally achieved even with an interrogation time as short as $500\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{s}$. The presented approach for absolute magnetic field measurement is expected to find wide applications in atom-interferometry-based precision measurements.