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Bulletin of the American Physical Society

Results of {open_quotes}Heisenberg Microscope{close_quotes} decoherence atom interferometry experiments

John F. Clauser, S. Li, Matthias Reinsch

Published May 1, 1993• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We present results of atom interferometry experiments in which spatial matter - wave interference is revealed by its selective destruction. A thermal potassium beam is transmitted through a velocity selective atom interferometer and detected. The interferometer is a sequence of three diffraction gratings. Interference fringes forming a Moire pattern with the third grating determine the transmission. The thermal beam produces a velocity average over different fringe Fourier components, each resonant in the interferometer at a different atomic velocity. AC modulated laser light passes through the interferometer, near the middle grating. Since imaging of the fluorescent light could be used to determine which slit an atom passes, the contribution to the fringe pattern by atoms at the laser`s Doppler shifted wavelength is removed. That component is thus AC modulated and detected. This {open_quotes}atom interference filter{close_quotes} resolves the K{sup 39} HFS.

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mit•Apr 19, 1990•0 citations
We present results of atom interferometry experiments in which spatial matter - wave interference is revealed by its selective destruction. A thermal potassium beam is transmitted through a velocity selective atom interferometer and detected. The interferometer is a sequence of three diffraction gratings. Interference fringes forming a Moire pattern with the third grating determine the transmission. The thermal beam produces a velocity average over different fringe Fourier components, each resonant in the interferometer at a different atomic velocity. AC modulated laser light passes through the interferometer, near the middle grating. Since imaging of the fluorescent light could be used to determine which slit an atom passes, the contribution to the fringe pattern by atoms at the laser`s Doppler shifted wavelength is removed. That component is thus AC modulated and detected. This {open_quotes}atom interference filter{close_quotes} resolves the K{sup 39} HFS.
Results of high flux atom interferometry experiments with potassium in generalized Talbot-vonLau configurations are presented. The interferometer consists of a sequence of three planar vacuum slit diffraction gratings, microfabricated from silicon nitride membranes. Interference fringes are sensed by measuring the transmission of atoms on a hot-wire as a function of grating relative position. Different spatial Fourier components (up to fifth) in the diffraction pattern are resonant in the interferometer at different atomic velocities. When a laser cooled slow beam is incident, various different diffraction patterns are observed as a function of atomic velocity, selected via the tuning of D2 cooling lasers. In an alternative “Heisenberg Microscope” configuration an incident thermal beam produces a velocity average over different fringe Fourier components. Fringe patterns for each HFS component are revealed by their selective destruction by AC modulated weak Dl laser light passing through the interferometer near the middle grating. Since imaging of the fluorescent light could determine which slit an atom passes, the laser removes the fringe pattern contribution by Doppler shifted atoms at its wavelength. That contribution is thus AC modulated and detected. Shifts of the patterns by gravity and rotation are evident when the vacuum chamber is tilted.
Atom de Broglie--wave interference fringes are revealed by their selective destruction. A thermal potassium beam is transmitted through a Talbot-Lau atom interferometer. Different fringe Fourier components resonate in the interferometer at different atomic velocities. The thermal velocity distribution averages and washes out the high-frequency components. ac-modulated laser light passes through the interferometer, is scattered by atoms at one velocity, and destroys, and thereby reveals via the ac modulation, the associated high-frequency fringe contribution.
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.
Results of atom interferometry experiments in generalized Talbot-vonLau configurations are presented. AC modulated D2 light from diode lasers is counter-directed on a thermal potassium beam. A pA AC current of cold, slow potassium atoms is extracted through a slit in a heated mirror, transmitted through an interferometer, and ionized by a hotwire. The interferometer consists of a sequence of three planar vacuum slit diffraction gratings, microfabricated from silicon nitride membranes. Interference fringes form a Moire with the third grating and are sensed by measuring the transmission as a function of grating relative position. Different spatial Fourier components (up to 5th) in the diffraction pattern, resonant in the interferometer at different atomic velocities, may be selected via the tuning of the cooling lasers. Shifts of the patterns by gravity and rotation are evident when the vacuum chamber is tilted.
A dc hot thermal and an ac-modulated cold slow potassium beam copropagate and pass through an atom de Broglie--wave interferometer, consisting of a sequence of three microfabricated diffraction gratings. Talbot-vonLau interference fringes are formed and sensed by measuring transmission with a hot wire as a function of grating position. The hot beam produces diffraction-limited shadow Moir\'e fringes, while the longer de Broglie wavelength slow beam produces interference fringes with high visibility at the fifth and sixth spatial harmonics of the shadow Moir\'e fringes.
Abstract : An atom interferometer is constructed in which the atom waves are physically separated prior to being recombined. Fabricated transmission gratings are used as optical elements for the matter waves. Atom interferometers should be useful in studies of atomic properties, tests of basic quantum physics, for metrology, as rotation sensors, and perhaps ultimately as devices to make ultra- small structures using atom holograms. During the last year our atom interferometer has evolved from a rough plan to an essentially complete device. At present all the major components of the interferometer have been built, and tested at least once. The system will be given its first real try in the next year. Our interferometer consists of three 0.2 microns - period diffraction gratings equally spaced approx. 0.65 m apart in our atomic beam machine. The maximum separation of the beams will be approx. 60 microns. The first two gratings separate and redirect the atomic beam forming a standing wave interference pattern in the atomic flux at the third grating, which acts like a mask to sample this pattern. A principle technical obstacle is the mechanical vibrations of our machine which will blur the interference pattern.