Multimode Trapped Interferometer with Ideal Bose-Einstein Condensates

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate a multi-mode interferometer comprising a Bose-Einstein condensate of 39 K atoms trapped in a harmonic potential, where the interatomic interaction can be cancelled exploiting Feshbach resonances. Kapitza-Dirac diffraction from an optical lattice coherently splits the BEC in multiple momentum components equally spaced that form different interferometric paths, closed by the trapping harmonic potential. We investigate two different interferometric schemes, where the recombination pulse is applied after a full or half oscillation in the confining potential. We find that the relative amplitudes of the momentum components at the interferometer output are sensitive to external forces, through the induced displacement of the harmonic potential with respect to the optical lattice. We show how to calibrate the interferometer, fully characterize its output and discuss perspective improvements.

Diffraction of strongly interacting molecular Bose-Einstein condensate from standing wave light pulses

“…We expect the latter to be relevant for interferometry, where the squeezing and entangled created by strong interaction may be desired for meteorological advantage [21,42]. Further, demonstrating the influence of interactions on the performance of a full multi-mode interferometer sequence [43] with lithium Feshbach molecules is an interesting avenue for further investigations.…”