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Journal of Optics B Quantum and Semiclassical Optics

Acceleration of ultracold atoms: towards a measurement ofh/MRb

Rémy Battesti, Pierre Clad 'e, Saïda Guellati-Khélifa, Catherine Schwob, Benoît Grémaud, F. Nez, Lucile Julien, F. Biraben

Published Apr 1, 2003• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We develop here the principle of an experiment whose purpose is the measurement of the atomic recoil velocity. The ratio h / M X , where h is the Planck constant and M X the atomic mass, and then the fine structure constant α, can be deduced from this measurement. A high precision measurement of the recoil velocity should lead to a determination of α of metrological interest.

DOI
10.1088/1464-4266/5/2/377

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We develop here the principle of an experiment whose purpose is the measurement of the atomic recoil velocity. The ratio h / M X , where h is the Planck constant and M X the atomic mass, and then the fine structure constant α, can be deduced from this measurement. A high precision measurement of the recoil velocity should lead to a determination of α of metrological interest.
We use Bloch oscillations in a horizontal moving standing wave to transfer a large number of photon recoils to atoms with a high efficiency (99.5% per cycle). By measuring the photon recoil of 87Rb, using velocity-selective Raman transitions to select a subrecoil velocity class and to measure the final accelerated velocity class, we have determined h/m(Rb) with a relative precision of 0.4 ppm. To exploit the high momentum transfer efficiency of our method, we are developing a vertical standing wave setup. This will allow us to measure h/m(Rb) better than 10(-8) and hence the fine structure constant alpha with an uncertainty close to the most accurate value coming from the (g-2) determination.
We report an accurate measurement of the recoil velocity of 87Rb atoms based on Bloch oscillations in a vertical accelerated optical lattice. We transfer about 900 recoil momenta with an efficiency of 99.97% per recoil. A set of 72 measurements of the recoil velocity, each one with a relative uncertainty of about 33 ppb in 20 min integration time, leads to a determination of the fine structure constant with a statistical relative uncertainty of 4.4 ppb. The detailed analysis of the different systematic errors yields to a relative uncertainty of 6.7 ppb. The deduced value of alpha-1 is 137.035 998 78(91).
We use Bloch oscillations to transfer coherently many photon momenta to atoms. Then we can measure accurately the recoil velocity ℏk/m\hbar k/mℏk/m and deduce the fine structure constant ααα. The velocity variation due to Bloch oscillations is measured using atom interferometry. This method yields to a value of the fine structure constant α−1=137.03599945(62)α^{-1}= 137.035 999 45 (62)α−1=137.03599945(62) with a relative uncertainty of about 4.5×10−94.5 \times 10^{-9}4.5×10−9.
The basic physical principles behind atom interferometers based on optical pulses of light are summarized. This method of atom interferometry is based on measurements in the time and frequency domain and is an inherently precise measurement technique. After a brief discussion of some of the important technical requirements for good fringe accuracy and visibility, we describe an interferometer that has measured the acceleration of an atom due to gravity with a resolution better than one part in 1010. We project that the absolute accuracy of our measurement will be of the order of a few parts in 109. We also describe an interferometer experiment that measures the recoil energy shift of an atom when it absorbs a photon. When combined with the value of the Rydberg constant and the mass ratios MCs/mp and mp/me, one can obtain a value for α, the fine structure constant. Currently, we have an experimental resolution Δα/α ∼ 10-8 after two hours of integration time and are studying the systematic effects that affect the measurement.
We show that Bloch oscillations of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice are a strong tool to measure accurately some physical constants. We describe in this paper two experimental approaches using a pure and an accelerated vertical standing waves to perform respectively a determination of the local acceleration of gravity ggg to ppm precision and of the fine structure constant α\alphaα with a relative uncertainty of 6,7 ppb.