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Construction of Components of a Strontium Ion Interferometer

Benjamin L. Francis

Published Jan 1, 2011• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

CONSTRUCTION OF COMPONENTS OF A STRONTIUM ION INTERFEROMETER Benjamin L. Francis Department of Physics Bachelor of Science Much of the experimental physics done today requires high levels of precision. One of the most recent developments in high-precision instruments is the matterwave interferometer, which uses quantum mechanical interference between matter beams to make measurements. An ion interferometer using strontium is currently being completed at Brigham Young University. As part of this experiment, many different components were built and tested. This includes an extended Helmholtz coil pair, a laser temperature controller, and the electronics for an acousto-optic modulator (AOM). Other tasks involved in this research included cleaning and baking out the main vacuum chamber; aligning optics for a magneto-optic trap, the acousto-optic modulator, and an associated strontium vapor cell; organizing various laser components; and building the support structure for the interferometer. With the exception of those which will require the completion of other parts of the experiment, all of these tasks were completed successfully and these components are currently operational.

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CONSTRUCTION OF COMPONENTS OF A STRONTIUM ION INTERFEROMETER Benjamin L. Francis Department of Physics Bachelor of Science Much of the experimental physics done today requires high levels of precision. One of the most recent developments in high-precision instruments is the matterwave interferometer, which uses quantum mechanical interference between matter beams to make measurements. An ion interferometer using strontium is currently being completed at Brigham Young University. As part of this experiment, many different components were built and tested. This includes an extended Helmholtz coil pair, a laser temperature controller, and the electronics for an acousto-optic modulator (AOM). Other tasks involved in this research included cleaning and baking out the main vacuum chamber; aligning optics for a magneto-optic trap, the acousto-optic modulator, and an associated strontium vapor cell; organizing various laser components; and building the support structure for the interferometer. With the exception of those which will require the completion of other parts of the experiment, all of these tasks were completed successfully and these components are currently operational.
I present the construction of a low-velocity intense source (LVIS) of laser-cooled neutral strontium using permanent ring magnets. The LVIS consists of a magneto-optical trap from which cold strontium is extracted in a well-collimated beam. I also present the development and implementation of a full suite of low-noise, high-bandwidth laser control electronics including a microcontroller unit. This microcontroller remotely controls and monitors the current driver, temperature controller, and PID lock circuit for each diode laser simultaneously. The current driver output is accurate to within 2 micro-amps and repeatable to with a few nano-amps. The noise spectral density of the current driver hits a floor of 10^(-10) amps per root Hz at ~50 Hz and has a modulation bandwidth of ~50 MHz. The PID lock-circuit includes a scan-balancing option that we have used to scan an AR coated laser diode ~30 GHz mode-hop free. I describe the construction of an 80 mW frequency doubled 461 nm laser system using PPKTP for cooling and trapping neutral strontium in the LVIS. The LVIS, the electronics systems, and the 461 nm laser system represent major milestones on the way to producing a matter-wave interferometer using Sr-87 ions. The interferometer is based on an optical Raman transition between the hyperfine ground states of the Sr-87 ion. The ions will be produced by exciting the strontium LVIS beam to an auto-ionizing state in the continuum. In the interferometer two half-pi pulses of light and one pi pulse will be delivered to the ions to split and recombine their wave functions. I present calculations of the predicted sensitivity and a discussion of the possible applications. I present a method for locking a 407.8 nm laser to the 5s doublet S J=1/2 to 5p doublet P J=3/2 strontium ion transition in a neutral vapor. I present calculations for the necessary vacuum levels for the experiment and describe the preparation and assembly of the vacuum apparatus. The major vacuum system consists of two connected elastomer sealed chambers: one at 10^(-7) Torr and the other at 10^(-10) Torr separated by a region of low conductance. I present a Sr vapor cell constructed from standard CF fittings that allows the strontium to be heated to ~730 C, which can also be run as a thermal beam. I present a method for protecting the viewports on small-form alkali-earth vapor cells using lead or indium foil during the evaporation of oxide layers. Finally, I report on the current status of the experiment as well as detail future work on the apparatus.
Using matter wave interferometry to perform high precision measurements is an exciting field of modern day physics and engineering. Physical constants and anomalies too small to observe with classical devices can be probed and measured with quantum technology. The ability to control the wave nature of a specific particle opens up a vast set of methodologies engineered for the given particle. The most complete toolboxes exist for alkali metals such as rubidium and cesium. The atomic structure of strontium provides a number of advantages in further developing these methods and technologies, especially in the resolution of spectroscopic measurements.A promising method of matter-wave control utilizes optical waveguides and atomic properties to trap and guide matter waves. Using laser cooling techniques, atoms are cooled to microkelvin temperatures before being loaded onto the nanophotonic chip, thus receiving the appropriate name, atom-on-chip devices. The ability to manufacture the photonic waveguides in a multitude of different arrangements shows promise in being able to develop atomtronic devices which are equivalent to electronic devices, but utilize matter-waves of neutral atoms instead of electrons.The heart of our novel technology is an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) apparatus with sample loading capabilities. In this thesis, I discuss the design and construction of the apparatus to provide quick turn over between loading nanophotonic devices and experimental trapping by separation of the main chamber from a load lock. The ultimate pressures in both reach 3.8times10−113.8\\times10^{-11}3.8times10−11 and below 1times10−111\\times10^{-11}1times10−11 Torr and initial trials were conducted with a 36-48 hour turn over between loading a chip at atmosphere, and inserting it into the UHV main chamber. These metrics beats other groups by an order of magnitude in pressure and others week-long loading time. Continual improvements are being made to further decrease this time.
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.
Matter-wave interferometers operating as clocks and gravimeters allow for precision measurements of time and gravity at unprecedented levels. In all these sensors, the exquisite control of both the internal (electronic) and external (center-of-mass motion) degrees of freedom of ultracold atomic samples enable interactions at their most basic, quantum level to be studied, paving the way for new tests of fundamental physics. For all these applications, novel interferometric schemes based on the narrow intercombination transitions of alkali-earth (and alkali-earth like) atoms have recently gained considerable attention. Here we present the work towards the realization of a simultaneous atom interferometer with cadmium and strontium atoms and the potential physics such a system could explore, along the idea of the ERC - “TICTOCGRAV” EU research project. In particular, we present the design and implementation of the high-power UV laser sources necessary for performing atom interferometry with cadmium and the prospects for developing a high-flux, cold source of cadmium. Potential applications of a simultaneous cadmium and strontium atom interferometer, including to weak equivalence principle and quantum time dilation tests, are discussed.
We demonstrate an atom interferometer gyroscope (AIG) using a strontium thermal beam. Our compact AIG consists of a stream of strontium atoms interacting with three laser pulses that split and recombine the matterwave flux to create a Mach-Zhender (MZ) interferometer sensitive to rotation. This system requires no cooling, no state preparation, and requires no microwave components. We also demonstrate a novel phase modulation technique for detecting the AIG response, which is especially useful for interferometers with a short time-of-flight. We will discuss our approach, latest results, and future plans. This thesis is organized in the following manner: Chapter 1 provides context to this work followed by relevant properties of ⁸⁸Sr. An overview of atom interferometry gyroscopes is covered in Chapter 2 followed by an explanation of phase modulation and its use in signal extraction in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 covers numerical investigation of the system parameter space. Next, the experimental apparatus is discussed in Chapter 5 followed by the results of our efforts in Chapter 6. Finally, Chapter 7 provides a summary of the most notable conclusions in this work.
This thesis describes the first steps to fulfill the main objective of our project: the development of a gravimetry system based on the continuous monitoring of Bloch oscillations performed by ultra-cold strontium atoms.The realization of this project comprises three main stages: the first stage consists in obtaining a magneto-optical trap in the broad transition of 461 nm of strontium, the second stage is the transfer to a magneto-optical trap in the narrow intercombination line of 689 nm, and finally the third stage is the monitoring of Bloch oscillations of the cloud of atoms in a ring cavity.This work details the first stage of the project, the creation of an experimental apparatus which produces ultra-cold strontium atoms in the transition of 461 nm, as well as the characterization of the cloud of atoms, temperature, size, number of atoms, etc.For this project, a new experimental apparatus has been designed and realized.It involves an ultra-high vacuum system, magnetic field sources, laser systems and optical instruments which are required for cooling, trapping and repumping strontium atoms.A novel feature is the implementation of a transversely loaded two-dimensional magneto-optical trap, which serves as a source of a cold strontium atomic beam.A loading rate of the atomic beam into a nearby three-dimensional magneto-optical trap exceeding 10 5 s -1 for the 88 Sr isotope at a moderate dispenser temperature of 600 • C are reported.The temperature of the cloud is about 4 mK and its size 0.3 mm, these characteristics suggest that the state of the atomic trap is in optimal conditions to make the transfer to the optical magneto trap in the intercombination line and thus continue with the second stage of the project.