The effect of wavefront aberrations in atom interferometry

Schkolnik, Vladimir; Leykauf, Bastian; Hauth, Matthias; Freier, Christian; Peters, A.

doi:10.1007/s00340-015-6138-5

Cited by 95 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 24 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…It is important to notice that further improvements in the contrast decay rate are foreseen, by reducing the radial expansion of the atomic cloud and Bragg beams wavefront aberrations, as already suggested in previous work [20,35].…”

Section: Interferometer Contrastmentioning

confidence: 73%

Bragg gravity-gradiometer using the¹S₀–³P₁intercombination transition of⁸⁸Sr

Aguila

Mazzoni

et al. 2018

New J. Phys.

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We present a gradiometer based on matter-wave interference of alkaline-earth-metal atoms, namely 88 Sr. The coherent manipulation of the atomic external degrees of freedom is obtained by largemomentum-transfer Bragg diffraction, driven by laser fields detuned away from the narrow 1 S 0 -3 P 1 intercombination transition. We use a well-controlled artificial gradient, realized by changing the relative frequencies of the Bragg pulses during the interferometer sequence, in order to characterize the sensitivity of the gradiometer. The sensitivity reaches 1.5×10 −5 s −2 for an interferometer time of 20 ms, limited only by geometrical constraints. We observed extremely low sensitivity of the gradiometric phase to magnetic field gradients, approaching a value 10 4 times lower than the sensitivity of alkali-atom based gradiometers, limited by the interferometer sensitivity. An efficient double-launch technique employing accelerated red vertical lattices from a single magneto-optical trap cloud is also demonstrated. These results highlight strontium as an ideal candidate for precision measurements of gravity gradients, with potential application in future precision tests of fundamental physics.

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Section: Interferometer Contrastmentioning

confidence: 73%

Bragg gravity-gradiometer using the¹S₀–³P₁intercombination transition of⁸⁸Sr

Aguila

Mazzoni

et al. 2018

New J. Phys.

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“…To obtain high fringe contrast C, low atom temperatures in three dimensions are desired for a number of reasons. In Raman-based atom interferometers, transverse cooling is beneficial because it reduces the inhomogeneity in Doppler shifts, Rabi frequencies and wavefront [54] of Raman transitions and also increases interference fringe contrast in the presence of sensor rotation by reducing the inhomogeneous Coriolis acceleration of the atoms [42,55]. Cooling in the longitudinal direction further reduces susceptibility to contrast loss under sensor rotations for the same reason.…”

Section: Discussion and Outlookmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three-Dimensional Cooling of an Atom-Beam Source for High-Contrast Atom Interferometry

et al. 2020

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We present a compact, two-stage atomic beam source that produces a continuous, narrow, collimated and high-flux beam of rubidium atoms with sub-Doppler temperatures in three dimensions, which features very low emission of near-resonance fluorescence along the atomic trajectory. The atom beam source originates in a pushed two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D + MOT) feeding a slightly off-axis three-dimensional moving optical molasses stage that continuously cools and redirects the atom beam. The capture velocity of the moving optical molasses is deliberately chosen to be low, ∼ 3 m/s, to reduce fluorescence, and the cooling light is detuned by several atomic linewidths from resonance to reduce the absorption cross-section of cooling-induced fluorescence. Near-resonance light from the 2D + MOT and the push beam does not propagate to the output atomic trajectory due to a 10 • bend in the atomic trajectory. The atomic beam emitted from the two-stage source has a flux up to 1.6(3)×10 9 atoms/s, with an optimized temperature of 15.0(2) µK. We employ continuous Raman-Ramsey interference measurements at the atom beam output to study the sources of decoherence in the presence of continuous cooling, and demonstrate that the atom beam source effectively preserves high fringe contrast even during cooling. This cold-atom beam source is appropriate for use in atom interferometers and clocks, where continuous operation eliminates dead time, the slow atom beam velocity (6 -16 m/s) improves sensitivity, the narrow 3D velocity distribution improves fringe contrast, and the low reabsorption of scattered light mitigates decoherence caused by the continuous cooling process.

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“…The atomic phase during interferometry is greatly affected by fluctuations of the Bragg-beam collimation and motion of the atoms across the effective Bragg-laser wavefront. Such motion can induce sizable systematic shifts and statistical fluctuations attributed to insufficient collimation and purity of the incident and reflected lasers [108,131,132], and can also write phase gratings onto the atomic clouds to reduce the contrast (notably in a direction perpendicular to the imaging plane). To first order, the wavefront-curvature-dependent phase shift is given by:…”

Section: Wavefront Related Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum test of the equivalence principle and space-time aboard the International Space Station

et al. 2016

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We describe the Quantum Test of the Equivalence principle and Space Time (QTEST), a concept for an atom interferometry mission on the International Space Station (ISS). The primary science objective of the mission is a test of Einstein's equivalence principle with two rubidium isotope gases at a precision of better than 10 −15 , a 100-fold improvement over the current limit on equivalence principle violations, and over 1,000,000 fold improvement over similar quantum experiments demonstrated in laboratories. Distinct from the classical tests is the use of quantum wave packets and their expected large spatial separation in the QTEST experiment. This dual species atom interferometer experiment will also be sensitive to time-dependent equivalence principle violations that would be signatures for ultralight dark-matter particles. In addition, QTEST will be able to perform photon recoil measurements to better than 10 −11 precision. This improves upon terrestrial experiments by a factor of 100, enabling an accurate test of the standard model of particle physics and contributing to mass measurement, in the proposed new international system of units (SI), with significantly improved precision. The predicted high measurement precision of QTEST comes from the microgravity environment on ISS, offering extended free fall times in a well-controlled environment. QTEST plans to use high-flux, dual-species atom sources, and advanced cooling schemes, for N>10 6 non-condensed atoms of each species at temperatures below 1 nK. Suppression of systematic errors by use of symmetric interferometer configurations and rejection of commonmode errors drives the QTEST design. It uses Bragg interferometry with a single laser beam at the 'magic' wavelength, where the two isotopes have the same polarizability, for mitigating sensitivities to vibrations and laser noise, imaging detection for correcting cloud initial conditions and maintaining contrast, modulation of the atomic hyperfine states for reduced sensitivity to magnetic field gradients, two source-regions for simultaneous time reversal measurements and redundancy, and modulation of the gravity vector using a rotating platform to reduce otherwise difficult systematics to below 10 −16 . dilatons or moduli [6]. Such tests may thus be one of the best chances to detect new physics beyond the standard model.Recent advances in ultra-cold atom physics and atom interferometry have provided new measurement capabilities [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14], with which the EP can be tested to unprecedented precisions. Already, laboratory experimental investigations have been carried out with atomic matter waves for tests of the equivalence principle [14][15][16][17][18][19], for precise photon recoil measurements [20,21], and for tests of inverse square laws of gravity [22][23][24]. The Quantum Test of the Equivalence principle and Space Time (QTEST) will fundamentally be a set of lightpulse atom interferometer (AI) experiments. Its primary science objective is to measure the differential gravitational a...

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The effect of wavefront aberrations in atom interferometry

Cited by 95 publications

References 24 publications

Bragg gravity-gradiometer using the¹S₀–³P₁intercombination transition of⁸⁸Sr

Bragg gravity-gradiometer using the¹S₀–³P₁intercombination transition of⁸⁸Sr

Three-Dimensional Cooling of an Atom-Beam Source for High-Contrast Atom Interferometry

Quantum test of the equivalence principle and space-time aboard the International Space Station

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The effect of wavefront aberrations in atom interferometry

Cited by 95 publications

References 24 publications

Bragg gravity-gradiometer using the1S0–3P1intercombination transition of88Sr

Bragg gravity-gradiometer using the1S0–3P1intercombination transition of88Sr

Three-Dimensional Cooling of an Atom-Beam Source for High-Contrast Atom Interferometry

Quantum test of the equivalence principle and space-time aboard the International Space Station

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Product

Resources

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Bragg gravity-gradiometer using the¹S₀–³P₁intercombination transition of⁸⁸Sr

Bragg gravity-gradiometer using the¹S₀–³P₁intercombination transition of⁸⁸Sr