Analysis of a free oscillation atom interferometer

Abstract

We analyze a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) -based free oscillation atom Michelson interferometer in a weakly confining harmonic magnetic trap. A BEC at the center of the trap is split into two harmonics by a laser standing wave. The harmonics move in opposite directions with equal speeds and turn back under the influence of the trapping potential at their classical turning points.The harmonics are allowed to pass through each other and a recombination pulse is applied when they overlap at the end of a cycle after they return for the second time. We derive an expression for the contrast of the interferometric fringes and obtain the fundamental limit of performance of the interferometer in the parameter space.

Effect of interparticle interaction in a free-oscillation atomic interferometer

“…For example, in the presence of attractive interactions these allow for the formation of bright soliton states, which are nondispersive and have been suggested as good candidates for the creation of macroscopic spatial superpositions [11][12][13][14]. Furthermore, the ubiquitous presence of harmonic traps for ultracold atoms has led to new ideas for interferometry designs based on the periodic trap dynamics [15][16][17][18]. Such schemes, which present a viable approach to atomic interferometry require often minimal experimental efforts and are referred to as free oscillation atom interferometers.…”

Effect of trap anharmonicity on a free-oscillation atom interferometer

“…The fraction of atoms that returns to rest depends on the phase difference developed between the two packets. gradients across the packet, which require the inclusion of atomic interactions to correctly analyze [13,15,17].…”

“…1), in which atoms are confined in a harmonic trap [9,11,[13][14][15]]. An off-resonant laser pulse is applied to the atoms and induces momentum kicks via Bragg scattering.…”

“…The wave packets are separated in that direction and one or more Bragg reflection pulses are used to reverse the atomic motion and bring the packets back together. The freeoscillation interferometer offers several advantages over the Michelson interferometer, chiefly stemming from the difficulty of achieving a perfectly flat potential [13,15,17].…”

Revival of Raman coherence of trapped atoms

“…By changing the angle α, the momentum recoilhk eff can be varied between practically zero and 2hk. This allows coupling to the external degrees of freedom of the atoms and the possibility of implementation of spatial multi-mode quantum memory [23,24].Raman atomic coherence in a trap is closely related to the fringe contrast of guided interferometers [25][26][27][28], and more specifically free-oscillation atom interferometers [26,[29][30][31][32][33][34]. These rely on the classical turning points of an underlying harmonic potential for the mirroring of the wave packets.…”