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arXiv:cond-mat/0509691 · Physical Review A

Time-orbiting potential trap for Bose-Einstein condensate interferometry

J. M. Reeves, Óscar Viyuela García, Benjamin Deissler, Kenneth Baranowski, K. J. Hughes, Charles A. Sackett

Published Nov 22, 2005• 21 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We describe an atom trap for Bose-Einstein condensates of $^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ to be used in atom interferometry experiments. The trap is based on a time-orbiting potential waveguide. It supports the atoms against gravity while providing weak confinement to minimize interaction effects. We observe harmonic oscillation frequencies $({\ensuremath{\omega}}_{x},{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{y},{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{z})$ as low as $2\ensuremath{\pi}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}(6.0,1.2,3.3)\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{Hz}$. Up to $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}$ condensate atoms have been loaded into the trap, at estimated temperatures as low as $850\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{pK}$. We anticipate that interferometer measurement times of $1\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{s}$ or more should be achievable in this device.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.72.051605

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We describe an atom trap for Bose-Einstein condensates of 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb to be used in atom interferometry experiments. The trap is based on a time-orbiting potential waveguide. It supports the atoms against gravity while providing weak confinement to minimize interaction effects. We observe harmonic oscillation frequencies (\ensuremathωx,\ensuremathωy,\ensuremathωz)({\ensuremath{\omega}}_{x},{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{y},{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{z})(\ensuremathωx​,\ensuremathωy​,\ensuremathωz​) as low as 2\ensuremathπ\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi(6.0,1.2,3.3)Hz2\ensuremath{\pi}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}(6.0,1.2,3.3)\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{Hz}2\ensuremathπ\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi(6.0,1.2,3.3)Hz. Up to 2\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi1042\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}2\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi104 condensate atoms have been loaded into the trap, at estimated temperatures as low as 850pK850\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{pK}850pK. We anticipate that interferometer measurement times of 1s1\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{s}1s or more should be achievable in this device.
A Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) production machine has been assembled and operated, using two vacuum chambers isolated from each other by a thin tube. A magnetooptical trap (MOT) is operated in the first chamber, where atoms are captured out of a thermal vapor and cooled to about 200 µK. The atoms are then transferred to a magnetic trap which is mounted on to a movable stage. A programmable motor moves the stage about half a meter, carrying the atoms to the second vacuum chamber where they are evaporatively cooled in a time-orbiting potential trap. We successfully used this apparatus to observe the first BEC's at the University of Virginia. We have also implemented a novel atom trap for BEC's of 87 Rb to be used in atom interferometry experiments. The trap is based on a time-orbiting potential waveguide. It supports the atoms against gravity while providing weak confinement to minimize interaction effects. We have loaded a condensate into the waveguide, and removed all other confinement fields. Up to 2 ×10 4 condensate atoms have been loaded into the trap, at estimated temperatures as low as 850 pK. We expect this novel type of trap will be useful for a variety of applications in condensate interferometry. Finally, we have characterized our trap by perturbing the atomic cloud with a sudden change in the confinement field. We subsequently obtain harmonic oscillation frequencies vi (ω x ,ω y ,ω z ) as low as 2π×(6.0, 1.2, 3.3) Hz. We have developed a mathematical description of the waveguide fields to account for the residual fields from the trap leads, obtaining good agreement between the measured and predicted trap behavior. The weak confinement of our guide should greatly reduce the limiting effects of atomic interactions. We anticipate that interferometer measurement times of 1 s or more should be achievable in this device. With suitable modifications, our waveguide could be used to precisely measure electric polarizability, gravitational forces, rotations, and other phenomena. We expect that the trap design presented here will play an essential role in allowing condensate interferometry to realize its potential. Note: Abstract extracted from PDF text
This dissertation documents a second Bose-Einstein Condensate production apparatus at the University of Virginia. The apparatus produces condensates of 87 Rb atoms to be used as the wave source for atom interferometry experiments. Additionally, a new magnetic trap was developed which provides a harmonic potential with cylindrical symmetry and also supports the atoms against gravity. This trap is based on a time-orbiting potential. To characterize the trapping potential, a condensate was loaded into the trap and perturbed by suddenly changing the confinement field during loading. This had the effect of inducing harmonic oscillations which were measured at varying trap parameters. We expect that this trap will be useful for the implementation of a compact atom interferometer-based gyroscope. Finally, an asymmetric Bragg splitting pulse was developed which allowed for the implementation of two simple interferometers. These interferometers developed a phase which depended on the recoil frequency of 87 Rb and served as a proof of principle for this new apparatus.
We present a variant of the time-orbiting potential trap suitable for Bose-Einstein condensate atom interferometers, which provides weak, cylindrically symmetric confinement as well as support for the atoms against gravity. This trapping configuration is well-suited for the implementation of a compact atom interferometer based gyroscope. The trap is made up of six coils, which were produced using photolithographic techniques and take up a modest volume of approximately 1 cubic inch inside a vacuum chamber. The trapping frequencies and thermal characteristics of the trap are presented, showing cylindrical symmetry and scalability of the trapping frequencies from 1 Hz to 8 Hz in the symmetry plane.
Interferometry with ultracold atoms promises the possibility of ultraprecise and ultrasensitive measurements in many fields of physics, and is the basis of our most precise atomic clocks. Key to a high sensitivity is the possibility to achieve long measurement times and precise readout. Ultracold atoms can be precisely manipulated at the quantum level and can be held for very long times in traps; they would therefore be an ideal setting for interferometry. In this paper, we discuss how the nonlinearities from atom–atom interactions, on the one hand, allow us to efficiently produce squeezed states for enhanced readout and, on the other hand, result in phase diffusion that limits the phase accumulation time. We find that low-dimensional geometries are favorable, with two-dimensional (2D) settings giving the smallest contribution of phase diffusion caused by atom–atom interactions. Even for time sequences generated by optimal control, the achievable minimal detectable interaction energy Δ E min is of the order of 10 −4 μ, where μ is the chemical potential of the Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) in the trap. From these we have to conclude that for more precise measurements with atom interferometers, more sophisticated strategies, or turning off the interaction-induced dephasing during the phase accumulation stage, will be necessary.
We demonstrate the operation of an atom interferometer based on a weakly interacting Bose-Einstein condensate. We strongly reduce the interaction induced decoherence that usually limits interferometers based on trapped condensates by tuning the s-wave scattering length almost to zero via a magnetic Feshbach resonance. We employ a 39K condensate trapped in an optical lattice, where Bloch oscillations are forced by gravity. The fine-tuning of the scattering length down to 0.1 a_(0) and the micrometric sizes of the atomic sample make our system a very promising candidate for measuring forces with high spatial resolution. Our technique can be in principle extended to other measurement schemes opening new possibilities in the field of trapped atom interferometry.
We report on the design and implementation of a compact apparatus for the production of Bose-Einstein condensation and the investigation of atom interferometry in a time-orbiting potential trap. The apparatus fits in a volume of about 30 L, and includes a vacuum chamber, magnetic trapping coils, beam delivery optics, and an imaging camera. It supports testing of in-air atom chips through a silicon membrane that serves as a thin vacuum wall and a mirror for a magneto-optical trap. The apparatus could reliably trap atoms near the membrane, but the number of atoms was limited and too low to support evaporative cooling. In future work, the cell will be loaded with optical tweezers from a separate cold-atom source.