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Physical Review Letters

Time-Domain de Broglie Wave Interferometry

S. B. Cahn, Anantharaman Kumarakrishnan, Unyob Shim, Tycho Sleator, P. R. Berman, B. Dubetsky

Published Aug 4, 1997• 165 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report the development of an atom interferometer that uses optical standing waves as phase gratings and operates in the time domain. The observed signal is entirely caused by the wave nature of the atomic center-of-mass motion. The opportunities to measure recoil frequency and gravity acceleration are demonstrated.
DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.79.784

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We have developed a novel interferometer for atom de Broglie waves, where amplitude division and recombination is achieved by diffraction at standing light waves operating as phase gratings. Our new atom interferometer is the exact mirror image of interferometers for light, with the roles of atoms and photons interchanged, and it directly demonstrates coherence of the diffraction of atomic waves at standing light waves. Easy manipulation of the phase, intensity, and polarization of the standing light wave permits novel studies of atomic coherence properties.
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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.
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