61 research outputs found
Light shifts in atomic Bragg diffraction
Bragg diffraction of an atomic wave packet in a retroreflective geometry with
two counterpropagating optical lattices exhibits a light shift induced phase.
We show that the temporal shape of the light pulse determines the behavior of
this phase shift: In contrast to Raman diffraction, Bragg diffraction with
Gaussian pulses leads to a significant suppression of the intrinsic phase shift
due to a scaling with the third power of the inverse Doppler frequency.
However, for box-shaped laser pulses, the corresponding shift is twice as large
as for Raman diffraction. Our results are based on approximate, but analytical
expressions as well as a numerical integration of the corresponding
Schr\"odinger equation.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Regimes of atomic diffraction: Raman versus Bragg diffraction in retroreflective geometries
We provide a comprehensive study of atomic Raman and Bragg diffraction when
coupling to a pair of counterpropagating light gratings (double diffraction) or
to a single one (single diffraction) and discuss the transition from one case
to the other in a retroreflective geometry as the Doppler detuning changes. In
contrast to single diffraction, double Raman loses its advantage of high
diffraction efficiency for short pulses and has to be performed in a Bragg-type
regime. Moreover, the structure of double diffraction leads to further
limitations for broad momentum distributions on the efficiency of mirror
pulses, making the use of (ultra) cold ensembles essential for high diffraction
efficiency.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figure
Atomic Raman scattering: Third-order diffraction in a double geometry
In a retroreflective scheme atomic Raman diffraction adopts some of the
properties of Bragg diffraction due to additional couplings to off-resonant
momenta. As a consequence, double Raman diffraction has to be performed in a
Bragg-type regime. Taking advantage of this regime, double Raman allows for
resonant higher-order diffraction. We study theoretically the case of
third-order diffraction and compare it to first order as well as a sequence of
first-order pulses giving rise to the same momentum transfer as the third-order
pulse. In fact, third-order diffraction constitutes a competitive tool for the
diffraction of ultracold atoms and interferometry based on large momentum
transfer since it allows to reduce the complexity of the experiment as well as
the total duration of the diffraction process compared to a sequence.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figure
Testing the universality of free fall with rubidium and ytterbium in a very large baseline atom interferometer
We propose a very long baseline atom interferometer test of Einstein's
equivalence principle (EEP) with ytterbium and rubidium extending over 10m of
free fall. In view of existing parametrizations of EEP violations, this choice
of test masses significantly broadens the scope of atom interferometric EEP
tests with respect to other performed or proposed tests by comparing two
elements with high atomic numbers. In a first step, our experimental scheme
will allow reaching an accuracy in the E\"otv\"os ratio of .
This achievement will constrain violation scenarios beyond our present
knowledge and will represent an important milestone for exploring a variety of
schemes for further improvements of the tests as outlined in the paper. We will
discuss the technical realisation in the new infrastructure of the Hanover
Institute of Technology (HITec) and give a short overview of the requirements
to reach this accuracy. The experiment will demonstrate a variety of techniques
which will be employed in future tests of EEP, high accuracy gravimetry and
gravity-gradiometry. It includes operation of a force sensitive atom
interferometer with an alkaline earth like element in free fall, beam splitting
over macroscopic distances and novel source concepts
Atom Strapdown: Toward Integrated Quantum Inertial Navigation Systems
We present an alternative technique for estimating the response of a cold atom interferometer (CAI). Using data from a conventional inertial measurement unit (IMU) and common strapdown terminology, the position of the atom wave packet is tracked in a newly introduced sensor frame, enabling hybridization of both systems in terms of acceleration and angular rate measurements. The sensor frame allows for an easier mathematical description of the CAI measurement and integration into higher-level navigation systems. The dynamic terms resulting from the transformation of the IMU frame into the CAI sensor frame are evaluated in simulations. The implementation of the method as a prediction model in an extended Kalman filter is explained and demonstrated in realistic simulations, showing improvements of over two orders of magnitude with respect to the conventional IMU strapdown solution. Finally, the implications of these findings for future hybrid quantum navigation systems are discussed
Self-alignment of a compact large-area atomic Sagnac interferometer
We report on the realization of a compact atomic Mach-Zehndertype Sagnac interferometer of 13.7 cm length, which covers an area of 19 mm(2) previously reported only for large thermal beam interferometers. According to Sagnac's formula, which holds for both light and atoms, the sensitivity for rotation rates increases linearly with the area enclosed by the interferometer. The use of cold atoms instead of thermal atoms enables miniaturization of Sagnac interferometers without sacrificing large areas. In comparison with thermal beams, slow atoms offer better matching of the initial beam velocity and the velocity with which the matter waves separate. In our case, the area is spanned by a cold atomic beam of 2.79m s(-1), which is split, deflected and combined by driving a Raman transition between the two hyperfine ground states of Rb-87 in three spatially separated light zones. The use of cold atoms requires a precise angular alignment and high wave front quality of the three independent light zones over the cloud envelope. We present a procedure for mutually aligning the beam splitters at the microradian level by making use of the atom interferometer itself in different configurations. With this method, we currently achieve a sensitivity of 6.1 x 10(-7) rad s(-1) Hz(-1/2).DFG/SFB/407EU/NESTEU/FINAQSEU/EuroquasarEU/IQSQUESTMax-Planck-GesellschaftINTERCAN networkUFA-DF
Twin-lattice atom interferometry
Inertial sensors based on cold atoms have great potential for navigation,
geodesy, or fundamental physics. Similar to the Sagnac effect, their
sensitivity increases with the space-time area enclosed by the interferometer.
Here, we introduce twin-lattice atom interferometry exploiting Bose-Einstein
condensates. Our method provides symmetric momentum transfer and large areas in
palm-sized sensor heads with a performance similar to present meter-scale
Sagnac devices
Interference of clocks: A quantum twin paradox
The phase of matter waves depends on proper time and is therefore susceptible to special-relativistic (kinematic) and gravitational (redshift) time dilation. Hence, it is conceivable that atom interferometers measure generalrelativistic time-dilation effects. In contrast to this intuition, we show that (i) closed light-pulse interferometers without clock transitions during the pulse sequence are not sensitive to gravitational time dilation in a linear potential. (ii) They can constitute a quantum version of the special-relativistic twin paradox. (iii) Our proposed experimental geometry for a quantum-clock interferometer isolates this effect. © 2019 The Authors
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