Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Guided Atom Interferometry.

Adrian Orozco

Published Dec 5, 2018• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Light Pulse Atom lnterferometryLight Pulse Atom Interferometers (LPAI) utilize Raman or Bragg transitions to coherently split, redirect, and recombine atomic wave packets.1In free space LPAIs, light pulses impart momentum kicks to freely expanding cold atomic clouds released from rest.During the atom-light interaction, the laser phase is imprinted onto the atom's wave function.Atoms experience different phase shifts along each interferometer arm which gives us information about their spatial trajectories and thus their local acceleration.The quadratic dependence of the phase shift on the interrogation time, T, have prompted researchers to increase the system's size.For field use, however, smaller compact devices are desired.Guided atom interferometers confine atoms spatially, increasing the interrogation time while minimizing the laser power needed to drive these systems. Beam 4litterIg,p) Mirror

Related papers

Atom Interferometer Driven by a Picosecond Frequency Comb

Cyrille Solaro, Clément Debavelaere, Pierre Cladé +1 more

We demonstrate a light-pulse atom interferometer based on the diffraction of free-falling atoms by a picosecond frequency-comb laser. More specifically, we coherently split and recombine wave packets of cold ^{87}Rb atoms by driving stimulated Raman transitions between the |5s ^{2}S_{1/2},F=1⟩ and |5s ^{2}S_{1/2},F=2⟩ hyperfine states, using two trains of picosecond pulses in a counterpropagating geometry. We study the impact of the pulses' length as well as the interrogation time onto the contrast of the atom interferometer. Our experimental data are well reproduced by a numerical simulation based on an effective coupling that depends on the overlap between the pulses and the atomic cloud. These results pave the way for extending light-pulse interferometry to transitions in other spectral regions and therefore to other species, for new possibilities in metrology, sensing of gravito-inertial effects, and tests of fundamental physics.

arXiv:2207.12723•Physical Review Letters•Oct 21, 2022•12 citations

Atom interferometer using spatially localized beam splitters

Clément Debavelaere, Cyrille Solaro, Saïda Guellati-Khélifa +1 more

A picosecond laser is used to realize atomic beam splitters based on stimulated Raman transitions. With this approach, the interaction between the laser and the atom is localized in the overlap zone of pairs of counterpropagating picosecond pulses. This imposes constraints for implementing interferometers on free-falling atoms. We have developed a robust technique to control the pulses' overlap and ensure that it follows the atom's trajectory while minimizing the induced laser phase noise. We also demonstrate an atom interferometer where the atomic beam splitters are applied to one arm of the interferometer without interacting with the atomic wave packet propagating along the other arm.

Physical Review A•Jul 12, 2024•6 citations

Atomic interferometry using stimulated Raman transitions

Mark A. Kasevich, Steven Chu

Sodium atoms prepared in hyperfine ground-state 11 > are driven to the other ground-state hyperfine level 12> when two laser beams nearly resonant with an optical transition have a frequency difference equal to the ground-state hyperfine splitting. When the two laser beams are counterpropagating, conservation of momentum between the atom and the light field requires that the atom acquire a velocity kick ~22 ħk/m during the 11> and 12> transition (~6 cm/sec in our experiment). When the lasers are detuned far from the optical transition, spontaneous emission from the intermediate optical level becomes negligible, and the atom behaves as a two-level system coupled to a resonant rf driving field. We have created an interferometer by applying a π/2-π-π/2 Raman pulse sequence: a first π/2 pulse coherently splits the atomic wave packet by putting it in a superposition of states 11> and 12>, a second π pulse occurring a time Δt later redirects each wave packet and a final π/2 pulse recombines the wave packets at time 2Δt. We have observed wave packet interference for wave packet separations of 2.4 mm and, by using the interferometer as an accelerometer, have measured the atom’s acceleration due to gravity to 3 parts in 106.

Annual Meeting Optical Society of America•Jan 1, 1991•57 citations

Velocity-dependent phase shift in a light-pulse atom interferometer

Léo Morel, Zhibin Yao, Pierre Cladé +1 more

Atom interferometry relies on the separation and recombination of atom wavepackets. When the two paths overlap perfectly at the end of the interferometer, the phase is insensitive to the atomic velocity distribution. Here, we show that, when the separation and recombination is performed using a Raman transition there is a displacement of the atomic wavepacket due to a phase shift during light pulses. Because of the variation of the laser intensity seen by the atoms, there is an imperfect cancellation of these displacements. The observation of a velocity-dependent phase shift on the interferometer is the signature of this effect, which has been modeled. Thanks to the signature we have identified, we are able to compensate for this effect by applying laser power ramps during the interferometer to mitigate intensity variations.

arXiv:2006.14354•Jun 25, 2020•4 citations

Development of a 88Sr-atom interferometer

Chen-Hao Feng

Atom interferometry is a maturing quantum technology which provides one of the most precise approaches to explore fundamental physics, e.g. to search for dark matter, and one day to observe gravitational waves in the frequency range from 10 mHz - 10 Hz. Standard atom interferometers use Bragg or Raman two-photon transitions for the coherent manipulation of matter waves. In a Michelson configuration for atom-aided gravitational waves detection, two orthogonal arms are built to reject laser noise, in the same way as optical interferometers. Atom interferometers utilizing an optical clock transition for coherent manipulation are less affected by the technical noise of the laser, and as a result that single baseline detectors become feasible.At LP2N, we are building a vertical gravity-gradiometer based on atom interferometry using strontium atoms probed on such a clock transition. The final experimental setup will implement a 6-meter tall atomic fountain to realize gradiometry with two or more separated atomic clouds.In my dissertation, I present the realization of the experimental setup in all its sub-systems, and the first experiments with atoms at millikelvin temperature obtained with the first cooling stage with blue light. The laser system for the second red cooling phase and for the coherent manipulation is ready; meanwhile, we realized a dual-frequency Zeeman slower that improves the atomic flux by a factor of six. We also present a study of an original scheme to achieve pulsed and fast light-atom interaction in a narrow-linewidth cavity by exploiting the Stark shift as a high bandwidth switch; this technique could open to the use of narrow-linewidth cavities – and notably their high power buildup - in several contexts, like atom interferometry and quantum information.

•Jan 1, 2021•0 citations

Guided-wave atom interferometers with Bose-Einstein condensate

Ebubechukwu O. Ilo-Okeke

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, 2012•0 citations
Light Pulse Atom lnterferometryLight Pulse Atom Interferometers (LPAI) utilize Raman or Bragg transitions to coherently split, redirect, and recombine atomic wave packets.1In free space LPAIs, light pulses impart momentum kicks to freely expanding cold atomic clouds released from rest.During the atom-light interaction, the laser phase is imprinted onto the atom's wave function.Atoms experience different phase shifts along each interferometer arm which gives us information about their spatial trajectories and thus their local acceleration.The quadratic dependence of the phase shift on the interrogation time, T, have prompted researchers to increase the system's size.For field use, however, smaller compact devices are desired.Guided atom interferometers confine atoms spatially, increasing the interrogation time while minimizing the laser power needed to drive these systems. Beam 4litterIg,p) Mirror
We demonstrate a light-pulse atom interferometer based on the diffraction of free-falling atoms by a picosecond frequency-comb laser. More specifically, we coherently split and recombine wave packets of cold ^{87}Rb atoms by driving stimulated Raman transitions between the |5s ^{2}S_{1/2},F=1⟩ and |5s ^{2}S_{1/2},F=2⟩ hyperfine states, using two trains of picosecond pulses in a counterpropagating geometry. We study the impact of the pulses' length as well as the interrogation time onto the contrast of the atom interferometer. Our experimental data are well reproduced by a numerical simulation based on an effective coupling that depends on the overlap between the pulses and the atomic cloud. These results pave the way for extending light-pulse interferometry to transitions in other spectral regions and therefore to other species, for new possibilities in metrology, sensing of gravito-inertial effects, and tests of fundamental physics.
A picosecond laser is used to realize atomic beam splitters based on stimulated Raman transitions. With this approach, the interaction between the laser and the atom is localized in the overlap zone of pairs of counterpropagating picosecond pulses. This imposes constraints for implementing interferometers on free-falling atoms. We have developed a robust technique to control the pulses' overlap and ensure that it follows the atom's trajectory while minimizing the induced laser phase noise. We also demonstrate an atom interferometer where the atomic beam splitters are applied to one arm of the interferometer without interacting with the atomic wave packet propagating along the other arm.
Sodium atoms prepared in hyperfine ground-state 11 > are driven to the other ground-state hyperfine level 12> when two laser beams nearly resonant with an optical transition have a frequency difference equal to the ground-state hyperfine splitting. When the two laser beams are counterpropagating, conservation of momentum between the atom and the light field requires that the atom acquire a velocity kick ~22 ħk/m during the 11> and 12> transition (~6 cm/sec in our experiment). When the lasers are detuned far from the optical transition, spontaneous emission from the intermediate optical level becomes negligible, and the atom behaves as a two-level system coupled to a resonant rf driving field. We have created an interferometer by applying a π/2-π-π/2 Raman pulse sequence: a first π/2 pulse coherently splits the atomic wave packet by putting it in a superposition of states 11> and 12>, a second π pulse occurring a time Δt later redirects each wave packet and a final π/2 pulse recombines the wave packets at time 2Δt. We have observed wave packet interference for wave packet separations of 2.4 mm and, by using the interferometer as an accelerometer, have measured the atom’s acceleration due to gravity to 3 parts in 106.
Atom interferometry relies on the separation and recombination of atom wavepackets. When the two paths overlap perfectly at the end of the interferometer, the phase is insensitive to the atomic velocity distribution. Here, we show that, when the separation and recombination is performed using a Raman transition there is a displacement of the atomic wavepacket due to a phase shift during light pulses. Because of the variation of the laser intensity seen by the atoms, there is an imperfect cancellation of these displacements. The observation of a velocity-dependent phase shift on the interferometer is the signature of this effect, which has been modeled. Thanks to the signature we have identified, we are able to compensate for this effect by applying laser power ramps during the interferometer to mitigate intensity variations.
Atom interferometry is a maturing quantum technology which provides one of the most precise approaches to explore fundamental physics, e.g. to search for dark matter, and one day to observe gravitational waves in the frequency range from 10 mHz - 10 Hz. Standard atom interferometers use Bragg or Raman two-photon transitions for the coherent manipulation of matter waves. In a Michelson configuration for atom-aided gravitational waves detection, two orthogonal arms are built to reject laser noise, in the same way as optical interferometers. Atom interferometers utilizing an optical clock transition for coherent manipulation are less affected by the technical noise of the laser, and as a result that single baseline detectors become feasible.At LP2N, we are building a vertical gravity-gradiometer based on atom interferometry using strontium atoms probed on such a clock transition. The final experimental setup will implement a 6-meter tall atomic fountain to realize gradiometry with two or more separated atomic clouds.In my dissertation, I present the realization of the experimental setup in all its sub-systems, and the first experiments with atoms at millikelvin temperature obtained with the first cooling stage with blue light. The laser system for the second red cooling phase and for the coherent manipulation is ready; meanwhile, we realized a dual-frequency Zeeman slower that improves the atomic flux by a factor of six. We also present a study of an original scheme to achieve pulsed and fast light-atom interaction in a narrow-linewidth cavity by exploiting the Stark shift as a high bandwidth switch; this technique could open to the use of narrow-linewidth cavities – and notably their high power buildup - in several contexts, like atom interferometry and quantum information.
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.