Matter-Wave Decoherence due to a Gas Environment in an Atom Interferometer

Uys, Hermann; Perreault, John D.; Cronin, Alexander D.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.95.150403

Cited by 41 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…This resulted in measurements of atomic polarizability ͑Ekstrom et al, 1995͒, the index of refraction due to dilute gases ͑Schmiedmayer et al, 1995; Roberts et al, 2002͒, contrast interferometry using magnetic rephasing ͑Schmiedmayer et al, 1994͒, and diffraction phases induced by van der Waals interactions ͑Perreault and . In experiments not explicitly needing separated beams, this apparatus has been used to measure phase shifts due to rotations Lenef et al, 1997͒ and to study decoherence due to scattering photons and background gas ͑Chapman, Kokorowski et al, 2001;Uys et al, 2005͒. This apparatus was also used to perform the first separated beam experiments with molecules ͑Na 2 ͒ ͑Chap-man, An interferometer with similar nanogratings was developed at the MPI in Göttingen and used to measure the polarizability of He and He 2 ͑Toennies, 2001͒.…”

Section: ͑15͒mentioning

confidence: 99%

Optics and interferometry with atoms and molecules

2009

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Interference with atomic and molecular matter waves is a rich branch of atomic physics and quantum optics. It started with atom diffraction from crystal surfaces and the separated oscillatory fields technique used in atomic clocks. Atom interferometry is now reaching maturity as a powerful art with many applications in modern science. In this review the basic tools for coherent atom optics are described including diffraction by nanostructures and laser light, three-grating interferometers, and double wells on atom chips. Scientific advances in a broad range of fields that have resulted from the application of atom interferometers are reviewed. These are grouped in three categories: ͑i͒ fundamental quantum science, ͑ii͒ precision metrology, and ͑iii͒ atomic and molecular physics. Although some experiments with Bose-Einstein condensates are included, the focus of the review is on linear matter wave optics, i.e., phenomena where each single atom interferes with itself.

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Section: ͑15͒mentioning

confidence: 99%

Optics and interferometry with atoms and molecules

2009

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“…Such experiments are determining the electron forward-scattering amplitude 8 or collisional decoherence due to electron-gas collisions. 9,10 These studies have not been done yet and would be more easily attained if a thermionic electron source could be implemented.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A measurement of electron-wall interactions using transmission diffraction from nanofabricated gratings

Barwick

Gronniger

Lü

et al. 2006

Journal of Applied Physics

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Electron diffraction from metal coated freestanding nanofabricated gratings is presented, with a quantitative path integral analysis of the electron-grating interactions. Electron diffraction out to the 20th order was observed indicating the high quality of our nanofabricated gratings. The electron beam is collimated to its diffraction limit with ion-milled material slits. Our path integral analysis is first tested against single slit electron diffraction, and then further expanded with the same theoretical approach to describe grating diffraction. Rotation of the grating with respect to the incident electron beam varies the effective distance between the electron and grating bars. This allows the measurement of the image charge potential between the electron and the grating bars. Image charge potentials that were about 15% of the value for that of a pure electron-metal wall interaction were found. We varied the electron energy from 50 to 900 eV. The interaction time is of the order of typical metal image charge response times and in principle allows the investigation of image charge formation. In addition to the image charge interaction there is a dephasing process reducing the transverse coherence length of the electron wave. The dephasing process causes broadening of the diffraction peaks and is consistent with a model that ascribes the dephasing process to microscopic contact potentials. Surface structures with length scales of about 200 nm observed with a scanning tunneling microscope, and dephasing interaction strength typical of contact potentials of 0.35 eV support this claim. Such a dephasing model motivated the investigation of different metallic coatings, in particular Ni, Ti, Al, and different thickness Au-Pd coatings. Improved quality of diffraction patterns was found for Ni. This coating made electron diffraction possible at energies as low as 50 eV. This energy was limited by our electron gun design. These results are particularly relevant for the use of these gratings as coherent beam splitters in low energy electron interferometry.

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“…This effect was studied by Hornberger et al with C 70 in a Talbot Lau interferometer [25] and by Uys et al with sodium in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer [26]: in both cases, a low pressure of gas is introduced everywhere inside the interferometer. This decoherence process depends on the momentum transferred to a particle of the wave by a collision with an atom of the scattering gas and on the interferometer geometry (separation between the two arms, size of the detector).…”

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confidence: 99%

First Measurements of the Index of Refraction of Gases for Lithium Atomic Waves

et al. 2007

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We report the first measurements of the index of refraction of gases for lithium waves. Using an atom interferometer, we have measured the real and imaginary parts of the index of refraction n for argon, krypton and xenon, as a function of the gas density for several velocities of the lithium beam. The linear dependence of (n − 1) with the gas density is well verified. The total collision cross-section deduced from the imaginary part of (n − 1) is in very good agreement with traditional measurements of this quantity. Finally, the real and imaginary parts of (n − 1) and their ratio ρ exhibit glory oscillations, in good agreement with calculations.

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Matter-Wave Decoherence due to a Gas Environment in an Atom Interferometer

Cited by 41 publications

References 24 publications

Optics and interferometry with atoms and molecules

Optics and interferometry with atoms and molecules

A measurement of electron-wall interactions using transmission diffraction from nanofabricated gratings

First Measurements of the Index of Refraction of Gases for Lithium Atomic Waves

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