Dynamical aspects of atom interferometry in an optical lattice in proximity of a surface

TL;DR

This paper investigates optimizing atom interferometry near surfaces by analyzing pulse frequencies, energy level modifications, and proposing symmetric schemes to enhance fringe contrast and reduce residual phase effects.

Contribution

It introduces a symmetric interferometric scheme that mitigates residual phase issues, improving fringe contrast near surfaces in atom interferometry.

Findings

Optimal pulse frequency depends on internal atomic transitions.

Residual phase limits interferometer efficiency near surfaces.

Symmetric schemes significantly improve interference fringe contrast.

Abstract

The efficiency of an atomic interferometer in proximity of a surface is discussed. We first study which is the best choice of frequency for a pulse acting on internal atomic transitions in the same well. Then considering the modification of atomic energy levels in vicinity of the surface, we propose the application of two simultaneous Raman lasers and numerically study the associated interference fringes. We show that the efficiency of the interferometric scheme is limited by the existence of a residual phase depending on the atomic path. We propose a symmetric scheme in order to avoid these contributions. We finally show that the suggested modifications make the contrast of the interference fringes close to 1 in any configuration, both close and far from the surface and with one or more initially populated wells.