Enhanced atom interferometer readout through the application of phase shear

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel phase shear technique for atom interferometers that enables single-shot phase and contrast measurement, significantly improving precision in applications like atomic gyrocompasses.

Contribution

The paper presents a new phase shear method for atom interferometry that allows direct imaging of fringe patterns, enhancing measurement accuracy and enabling high-precision applications.

Findings

Achieved 10 millidegree precision in an atomic gyrocompass

Demonstrated single-shot phase and contrast measurement capability

Validated the method in a 10 m Rb-87 atomic fountain

Abstract

We present a method for determining the phase and contrast of a single shot of an atom interferometer. The application of a phase shear across the atom ensemble yields a spatially varying fringe pattern at each output port, which can be imaged directly. This method is broadly relevant to atom interferometric precision measurement, as we demonstrate in a 10 m Rb-87 atomic fountain by implementing an atom interferometric gyrocompass with 10 millidegree precision.