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arXiv:physics/0508032

Limitations of Nanotechnology for Atom Interferometry

Alexander D. Cronin, Lu Wang, John D. Perreault

Published Aug 3, 2005• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Do van der Waals interactions determine the smallest nanostructures that can be used for atom optics? This question is studied with regard to the problem of designing an atom interferometer with optimum sensitivity to de Broglie wave phase shifts. The optimum sensitivity to acceleration and rotation rates is also considered. For these applications we predict that nanostructures with a period smaller than 40 nm will cause atom interferometers to perform poorly because van der Waals interactions adversely affect how nanostructure gratings work as beam-splitters.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.physics/0508032

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Do van der Waals interactions determine the smallest nanostructures that can be used for atom optics? This question is studied with regard to the problem of designing an atom interferometer with optimum sensitivity to de Broglie wave phase shifts. The optimum sensitivity to acceleration and rotation rates is also considered. For these applications we predict that nanostructures with a period smaller than 40 nm will cause atom interferometers to perform poorly because van der Waals interactions adversely affect how nanostructure gratings work as beam-splitters.
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We used the Toulouse atom interferometer to study how Van der Waals (VdW) interactions between atoms and surfaces cause velocity-dependent phase shifts for atomic de Broglie waves. By introducing a thin nano-grating in one branch of this interferometer, we observed a phase shift that depends on velocity to the power −0.49. This dispersion serves to measure both the strength and the position dependence of the atom-surface potential in the range from 5 to 10 nm from the surface, and it can also set new limits on non-Newtonian gravity in the 2 nm range.
Atom-surface interactions are becoming an integral part of the field of atom optics. Here the role of van der Waals atom-surface interactions in atom wave diffraction and interferometry are investigated. In particular, it is shown that van der Waals interactions influence the intensity and phase of atomic diffraction patterns obtained from material gratings. As a result the atomic diffraction patterns are utilized to make an accurate determination of the interaction strength and verify the spatial variation of the atom-surface potential. A theory for describing the modified atom wave diffraction patterns is developed through an analogy with optical waves. An atom interferometer is used to directly measure the de Broglie wave phase shift induced by atom-surface interactions. More specifically, the phases of the zeroth, first, and second diffraction orders are measured. A proposal for using electromagnetic fields to modify the van der Waals interaction is put forth. Several of the important experimental components for observing such an effect are also demonstrated.
Four atom optics experiments that each serve to measure atom-surface interactions near nanofabricated gratings are presented here. In these experiments atoms in a beam travel within 25 nm of a material grating bar, and the analysis incorporates phase shifts for the atomic de Broglie waves due to interactions betwen Na atoms and silicon nitride surfaces. One atom diffraction experiment determines the van der Waals coeficient C 3 = 2.7 ± 0.8 meV nm 3 , and one atom interferometer experiment determines C 3 = 4 ± 1 meV nm 3 . The results of all four experiments are consistent with the Lifshitz prediction that is explicitly calculated here for Nasilicon nitride to be C 3 = 3.25 meV nm 3 . The four atom optics experiments and review of van der Waals theory are complemented by similar experiments using electron beams and analysis of image-charge effects.
In atom optics a mechanical structure is commonly regarded as an amplitude mask for atom waves. However, atomic diffraction patterns indicate that mechanical structures also operate as phase masks. In this study a well collimated beam of Na atoms is used to illuminate a silicon nitride grating with a period of 100 nm. During passage through the grating slots atoms acquire a phase shift due to the van der Waals (vdW) interaction with the grating walls. This phase shift depends both on atom position and velocity. As a result the relative intensities of the matter-wave diffraction peaks deviate from optical theory and depend on the de Broglie wavelength of the atoms. The vdW coefficient C3 is determined by fitting a modified Fraunhoffer optical theory to the experimental data.
We analyze the possibilities of approaching atom-surface interactions through their contribution to the atomic matter de Broglie wave phase, in an interferometer based on an evanescent light atomic mirror. The surface interactions produce an additional phase shift that is evaluated to a few times \ensuremath{\pi} for a neon atom in a metastable state. We propose and investigate an experimental procedure that uses the principles of polarization (for instance, Stern-Gerlach) interferometers in order to monitor these long-range interactions (van der Waals, Casimir-Polder, etc.) between a ground-state or metastable-state atom and either a metallic or a dielectric surface. Our approach gives access to the differential phase shift between Zeeman sublevels, and should then be sensitive to an eventual anisotropy of the atom-surface interaction.