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arXiv:cond-mat/0505358

Interferometry in dense nonlinear media and interaction-induced loss of contrast in microfabricated atom interferometers

Maxim Olshanii, Vanja Dunjko

Published May 14, 2005• 12 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In this paper we update the existing schemes for computation of atom-interferometric signal in single-atom interferometers to interferometry with dense Bose-condensed atomic samples. Using the theory developed we explain the fringe contrast degradation observed, for longer duration of interferometric cycle, in the Michelson interferometer on a chip recently realized at JILA (Ying-Ju Wang, Dana Z. Anderson, Victor M. Bright, Eric A. Cornell, Quentin Diot, Tetsuo Kishimoto, Mara Prentiss, R. A. Saravanan, Stephen R. Segal, Saijun Wu, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 090405 (2005)). We further suggest several recipes for suppression of the interaction-related contrast degradation.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/0505358

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In this paper we update the existing schemes for computation of atom-interferometric signal in single-atom interferometers to interferometry with dense Bose-condensed atomic samples. Using the theory developed we explain the fringe contrast degradation observed, for longer duration of interferometric cycle, in the Michelson interferometer on a chip recently realized at JILA (Ying-Ju Wang, Dana Z. Anderson, Victor M. Bright, Eric A. Cornell, Quentin Diot, Tetsuo Kishimoto, Mara Prentiss, R. A. Saravanan, Stephen R. Segal, Saijun Wu, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 090405 (2005)). We further suggest several recipes for suppression of the interaction-related contrast degradation.
A Mach-Zehnder-type atom interferometer with a Bose-Einstein condensate has been investigated on an atom chip by using optical Bragg diffraction. A phase shift and a contrast degradation, which depend on the atomic density and the trapping frequency of the magnetic-guide potential, have been observed. Also, the output wave packets were found to exhibit a spatial interference pattern. The atom-atom interaction and the guide potential induce the spatially inhomogeneous phase evolution of the wave packets in each arm of the interferometer. The observed contrast degradation can be quantitatively explained as a dephasing due to this inhomogeneous phase evolution.
Atom interferometers and gyroscopes are highly sensitive atom-optical devices which are capable to measure inertial, gravitational, electric, and magnetic fields and to sense rotations. Theoretically, the signal-to-noise ratio of atomic gyroscopes is about a hundred billion times more than that of their optical counterparts for the same particle flux and the enclosed area. Ultra cold atoms from a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) can easily be controlled and coherently manipulated on small chips by laser pulses. Atom-optical devices will therefore play a significant role in fundamental research, precision measurements, and navigation systems. In BEC-based atom interferometers, a BEC in a trap is split by using laser pulses, the split clouds are allowed to evolve, they are reflected, and then recombined by laser pulses to observe interference. The split clouds accumulate spatial phase because of the trap and the nonlinearity caused by atom-atom interactions. A velocity mismatch due to reflection laser pulses also introduces a phase gradient across each cloud. These factors contribute to spatial relative phase between the clouds at recombination, causing the loss of contrast of the interference fringes. The main objective of this dissertation is to study the dynamics of a split condensate in atom Michelson interferometers, investigate the effect of trap frequencies, nonlinearity, and the velocity mismatch on the contrast, and to obtain the best theoretical limit of performance in terms of the experimental parameters: trap frequencies, number of atoms, and the velocity imparted to the clouds by the splitting laser pulses.
This chapter describes the Bose--Einstein condensate (BEC) interferometry. We first introduce the optical interferometer, briefly discussing the role of fringe contrast in observing interference patterns. Next, we examine a BEC interferometer in a Michelson geometry that consists of a BEC in a trapping potential well. The BEC cloud in the potential well is put into a linear superposition of two clouds that travel along different paths in the trap and are recombined using the same light beams. By studying the population of atoms in the different motional states of the BEC clouds that emerge after recombination, we obtain information about the relative phase shift accumulated by the two traveling superposed condensates during the interferometry. We then characterize the atom distribution that is found in the output of the interferometer by finding the probability density distribution and calculating the features of the probability density such as the mean, the variance, and the interference fringe contrast. Finally, we parameterize the effect of two-body collisional interactions on the observed interference fringes in a way that can be directly controlled in an experiment.
Cold-atom interferometry is a powerful tool for high-precision measurements of the quantum properties of atoms, many-body interactions and gravity. Further enhancement of sensitivity and reduction of complexity of these devices are crucial conditions for success of their applications. Here we introduce a multi-path interferometric scheme that offers advances in both these aspects. It uses coherent coupling between Bose-Einstein condensates in different Zeeman states to generate an interferometric signal with sharp fringes. We realise such an interferometer as a compact easy-to-use atom-chip device and thus provide an alternative method for measurement of the light-atom and surface-atom interactions.
Precision interferometry with atomic wavepackets confined in a one-dimensional optical lattice is an emergent paradigm in quantum sensing of forces and fields, with applications in gravimetry, accelerometry, geophysics, and fundamental physics tests. We report on the realization of a lattice-trapped interferometer where the two arms are sourced from a weakly-interacting ytterbium Bose-Einstein condensate, coherently split and trapped by pulsed optical standing waves before recombination. We directly observe atomic interactions through contrast changes and phase shifts of the interferometer. By changing either the atom number or the sample volume to vary the density, we demonstrate control over interactions and optimize interferometer performance. Our observations are effectively captured by a mean-field theoretical model of the system. This work experimentally probes the boundary where improved performance from source brightening through higher phase space density transitions into a regime beyond single-atom physics in lattice-trapped atom interferometry, and opens a door to incorporating many-body effects for metrological advances in such platforms.
We use the mean-field approximation to numerically study the dynamics of a split condensate in Mach-Zehnder-type atom interferometers that employ Bragg diffraction. The Husimi representation is used as a direct tool for diagnosing the dynamics in phase space, thus providing information on the interference fringe contrast. We analyze how optimization of the contrast of interference signals can result by means of compensating for the nonlinear interaction and the trapping potential for three alternative experimental schemes. The phase-space overlap in Husimi distribution as well as dynamics in phase space is shown to be important in determining the interference fringe contrast.