Optical Lattices as Waveguides and Beam Splitters for Atom Interferometry: An Analytical Treatment and Proposal of Applications

TL;DR

This paper analytically models atom dynamics in optical lattices and proposes their use as waveguides and beam splitters to significantly enhance atom interferometry sensitivity and reduce device size.

Contribution

It provides an analytical framework for atom-lattice interactions and introduces novel interferometer geometries utilizing optical lattices for improved performance.

Findings

Analytical description of atom dynamics in optical lattices.

Proposed interferometer designs with optical lattices as waveguides.

Potential for large increases in sensitivity and reductions in size.

Abstract

We provide an analytical description of the dynamics of an atom in an optical lattice using the method of perturbative adiabatic expansion. A precise understanding of the lattice-atom interaction is essential to taking full advantage of the promising applications that optical lattices offer in the field of atom interferometry. One such application is the implementation of Large Momentum Transfer (LMT) beam splitters that can potentially provide multiple order of magnitude increases in momentum space separations over current technology. We also propose interferometer geometries where optical lattices are used as waveguides for the atoms throughout the duration of the interferometer sequence. Such a technique could simultaneously provide a multiple order of magnitude increase in sensitivity and a multiple order of magnitude decrease in interferometer size for many applications as compared to current state-of-the-art atom interferometers.