A scalable Bose-Einstein condensate Sagnac interferometer in a linear trap

TL;DR

This paper presents a scalable Bose-Einstein condensate Sagnac interferometer in a linear trap, demonstrating potential for rotation sensing with larger enclosed areas compared to free space setups.

Contribution

The authors develop a two-dimensional atom interferometer in a harmonic magnetic waveguide using BECs, enabling larger interaction times and enclosed areas for rotation measurement.

Findings

Achieved an enclosed area of 0.1 mm²

Demonstrated oscillation and splitting of atoms in a harmonic trap

Proposed scalability to larger areas with increased coherence time

Abstract

We demonstrate a two-dimensional atom interferometer in a harmonic magnetic waveguide using a Bose-Einstein condensate. Such an interferometer could measure rotation using the Sagnac effect. Compared to free space interferometers, larger interactions times and enclosed areas can in principle be achieved, since the atoms are not in free fall. In this implementation, we induce the atoms to oscillate along one direction by displacing the trap center. We then split and recombine the atoms along an orthogonal direction, using an off-resonant optical standing wave. We enclose a maximum effective area of 0.1 square mm, limited by fluctuations in the initial velocity and the coherence time of the interferometer. We argue that this arrangement is scalable to enclose larger areas by increasing the coherence time and then making repeated loops.