Atom interferometers with scalable enclosed area

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates advanced atom interferometers with large momentum splitting using integrated Bloch oscillations and Bragg diffraction, significantly enhancing sensitivity and suppressing systematic errors for potential applications like gravitational wave detection.

Contribution

It introduces a novel integration of Bloch oscillations and Bragg diffraction into light-pulse atom interferometers with large momentum splitting, achieving record contrast and momentum transfer.

Findings

Achieved 15% contrast at 24$ ext{ħ}k$ splitting.

Single beam splitters reach 88$ ext{ħ}k$.

Discussed potential to reach hundreds of $ ext{ħ}k$ for gravitational wave sensing.

Abstract

Bloch oscillations (i.e., coherent acceleration of matter waves by an optical lattice) and Bragg diffraction are integrated into light-pulse atom interferometers with large momentum splitting between the interferometer arms, and hence enhanced sensitivity. Simultaneous acceleration of both arms in the same internal states suppresses systematic effects, and simultaneously running a pair of interferometers suppresses the effect of vibrations. Ramsey-Bord\'e interferometers using four such Bloch-Bragg-Bloch (BBB) beam splitters exhibit 15% contrast at 24$\hbar k$ splitting, the largest so far ($\hbar k$ is the photon momentum); single beam splitters achieve 88$\hbar k$. The prospects for reaching 100s of $\hbar k$ and applications like gravitational wave sensors are discussed.