Improvements and Applications of a Guided-Wave Bose Einstein Condensate Interferometer

An atom interferometer is a sensitive device that has potential for many useful applications. Atoms are sensitive to electromagnetic fields due to their electric and magnetic moments and their mass allows them to be deflected in a gravitational field, thereby making them attractive for measuring inertial forces. The narrow momentum distribution of Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is a great asset in realizing portable atom interferometers. An example is a guided-wave atom interferometer that uses a confining potential to guide the motion of the condensate. Despite the promise of guided-wave atom interferometry with BEC, spatial phase and phase diffusion limit the contrast of the interference fringes. The control of these phases is required for successful development of a BEC-based guided-wave atom interferometer. This thesis analyses the guided-wave atom interferometer, where an atomic BEC cloud at the center of a confining potential is split into two clouds that move along different arms of the interferometer. The clouds accumulate relative phase due to the environment, spatially inhomogeneous trapping potential and atom-atom interactions within the condensate. At the end of the interferometric cycle, the clouds are recombined producing a cloud at rest and moving clouds. The number of atoms in the clouds that emerge depends on the relative phase accumulated by the clouds during propagation. This is investigated by deriving an expression for the probability of finding any given number of atoms in the clouds that emerge after recombination. Characteristic features like mean, standard deviation and cross-correlation function of the probability density distribution are calculated and the contrast of the interference fringes is optimized. This thesis found that optimum contrast is achieved through the control of total population of atoms in the condensate, trap frequencies, s-wave scattering length, and the duration of the interferometric cycle.An atom interferometer is a sensitive device that has potential for many useful applications. Atoms are sensitive to electromagnetic fields due to their electric and magnetic moments and their mass allows them to be deflected in a gravitational field, thereby making them attractive for measuring inertial forces. The narrow momentum distribution of Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is a great asset in realizing portable atom interferometers. An example is a guided-wave atom interferometer that uses a confining potential to guide the motion of the condensate. Despite the promise of guided-wave atom interferometry with BEC, spatial phase and phase diffusion limit the contrast of the interference fringes. The control of these phases is required for successful development of a BEC-based guided-wave atom interferometer. This thesis analyses the guided-wave atom interferometer, where an atomic BEC cloud at the center of a confining potential is split into two clouds that move along different arms of the interferometer. The clouds accumulate relative phase due to the environment, spatially inhomogeneous trapping potential and atom-atom interactions within the condensate. At the end of the interferometric cycle, the clouds are recombined producing a cloud at rest and moving clouds. The number of atoms in the clouds that emerge depends on the relative phase accumulated by the clouds during propagation. This is investigated by deriving an expression for the probability of finding any given number of atoms in the clouds that emerge after recombination. Characteristic features like mean, standard deviation and cross-correlation function of the probability density distribution are calculated and the contrast of the interference fringes is optimized. This thesis found that optimum contrast is achieved through the control of total population of atoms in the condensate, trap frequencies, s-wave scattering length, and the duration of the interferometric cycle.

Apr 24, 20120 citations

Designing Bose--Einstein Condensate Interferometers

Mark Edwards, Charles W. Clark

Summary form only given. In a recent experiment, performed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a Mach-Zender type matter-wave interferometer was demonstrated using a sequence of laser pulses applied to a gaseous Bose-Einstein condensate. Matter-wave interferometers are essential tools for probing optically manipulated Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) and the use of a sequence of laser pulses should enable experimenters to implement a variety of interferometer types tailored for particular applications.Summary form only given. In a recent experiment, performed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a Mach-Zender type matter-wave interferometer was demonstrated using a sequence of laser pulses applied to a gaseous Bose-Einstein condensate. Matter-wave interferometers are essential tools for probing optically manipulated Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) and the use of a sequence of laser pulses should enable experimenters to implement a variety of interferometer types tailored for particular applications.

APSMar 1, 20000 citations

Obtaining a high-visibility Bose-Einstein condensate interferometer

K. Jeramy Hughes, Benjamin Deissler, John H. Burke +1 more

APSJun 1, 20070 citations

Bose-Einstein-condensate interferometer with macroscopic arm separation

Óscar Viyuela García, Benjamin Deissler, K. J. Hughes +2 more

A Michelson interferometer using Bose-Einstein condensates is demonstrated with coherence times of up to $44\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ms}$ and arm separations up to $180\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\mu}}\mathrm{m}$. This arm separation is larger than that observed for any previous atom interferometer. The device uses atoms weakly confined in a magnetic guide and the atomic motion is controlled using Bragg interactions with an off-resonant standing-wave laser beam.A Michelson interferometer using Bose-Einstein condensates is demonstrated with coherence times of up to $44\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ms}$ and arm separations up to $180\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\mu}}\mathrm{m}$. This arm separation is larger than that observed for any previous atom interferometer. The device uses atoms weakly confined in a magnetic guide and the atomic motion is controlled using Bragg interactions with an off-resonant standing-wave laser beam.

arXiv:cond-mat/0603772Physical Review ASep 11, 200685 citations

A Michelson interferometer using Bose-Einstein condensates is demonstrated with coherence times of up to

44\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ms}

and arm separations up to $180\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\mu}}\mathrm{m}$. This arm separation is larger than that observed for any previous atom interferometer. The device uses atoms weakly confined in a magnetic guide and the atomic motion is controlled using Bragg interactions with an off-resonant standing-wave laser beam.