Theoretical analysis of a single and double reflection atom interferometer in a weakly-confining magnetic trap

TL;DR

This paper provides a theoretical analysis of atom interferometers using Bose-Einstein condensates in weak magnetic traps, developing an analytic model to optimize contrast and coherence time, and comparing with recent experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a simple analytic model for single and double reflection atom interferometers in weakly-confining traps, highlighting how to enhance coherence time and fringe contrast.

Findings

Double reflection interferometers can have increased coherence time by adjusting recombination timing.

The model identifies parameter regions with high and low interference fringe contrast.

The theoretical results align with recent experimental observations.

Abstract

The operation of a BEC based atom interferometer, where the atoms are held in a weakly-confining magnetic trap and manipulated with counter-propagating laser beams, is analyzed. A simple analytic model is developed to describe the dynamics of the interferometer. It is used to find the regions of parameter space with high and low contrast of the interference fringes for both single and double reflection interferometers. We demonstrate that for a double reflection interferometer the coherence time can be increased by shifting the recombination time. The theory is compared with recent experimental realizations of these interferometers.