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Physical Review Letters

Optics and Interferometry with Na2 Molecules

Michael Chapman, Christopher R. Ekstrom, Troy D. Hammond, Richard A. Rubenstein, Jörg Schmiedmayer, Stefan Wehinger, David E. Pritchard

Published Jun 12, 1995• 146 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have produced an intense, pure beam of sodium molecules ( ${\mathrm{Na}}_{2}$) by using light forces to separate the atomic and molecular species in a seeded supersonic beam. We used diffraction from a microfabricated grating to study the atomic and molecular sodium in the beam. Using three of these gratings, we constructed a molecule interferometer with fully separated beams and high contrast fringes. We measured both the real and imaginary parts of the index of refraction of neon gas for ${\mathrm{Na}}_{2}$ molecule de Broglie waves by inserting a gas cell in one arm of the interferometer.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.74.4783

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We have produced an intense, pure beam of sodium molecules ( Na2{\mathrm{Na}}_{2}Na2​) by using light forces to separate the atomic and molecular species in a seeded supersonic beam. We used diffraction from a microfabricated grating to study the atomic and molecular sodium in the beam. Using three of these gratings, we constructed a molecule interferometer with fully separated beams and high contrast fringes. We measured both the real and imaginary parts of the index of refraction of neon gas for Na2{\mathrm{Na}}_{2}Na2​ molecule de Broglie waves by inserting a gas cell in one arm of the interferometer.
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.
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We have demonstrated an interferometer for atoms. A three-grating geometry is used, in which the interfering beams are distinctly separated in both position and momentum. We used a highly collimated beam of sodium atoms with a de Broglie wavelength of 16 pm and high-quality 0.4-\ensuremath{\mu}m-period free-standing gratings which we fabricated using a novel method. The interference signal is 70 counts/s, which allows us to determine the phase to 0.1 rad in 1 min. Applications of atom interferometers are briefly discussed.
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Interference with atomic and molecular matter waves is a rich branch of atomic physics and quantum optics. It started with atom diffraction from crystal surfaces and the separated oscillatory fields technique used in atomic clocks. Atom interferometry is now reaching maturity as a powerful art with many applications in modern science. In this review the basic tools for coherent atom optics are described including diffraction by nanostructures and laser light, three-grating interferometers, and double wells on atom chips. Scientific advances in a broad range of fields that have resulted from the application of atom interferometers are reviewed. These are grouped in three categories: (i) fundamental quantum science, (ii) precision metrology, and (iii) atomic and molecular physics. Although some experiments with Bose-Einstein condensates are included, the focus of the review is on linear matter wave optics, i.e., phenomena where each single atom interferes with itself.
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.