Symmetric micro-wave potentials for interferometry with thermal atoms on a chip

TL;DR

This paper proposes a microwave-based atom interferometer on a chip that achieves high symmetry and coherence with thermal atoms, potentially enabling high-contrast measurements without Bose-Einstein condensate interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel microwave potential scheme for thermal atom interferometry that enhances symmetry and coherence on a chip.

Findings

High symmetry between interferometer arms achieved

Potential for high contrast and long coherence time

Avoids mean-field interaction issues of BEC-based interferometers

Abstract

A trapped atom interferometer involving state-selective adiabatic potentials with two microwave frequencies on a chip is proposed. We show that this configuration provides a way to achieve a high degree of symmetry between the two arms of the interferometer, which is necessary for coherent splitting and recombination of thermal (i.e. non-condensed) atoms. The resulting interferometer holds promise to achieve high contrast and long coherence time, while avoiding the mean-field interaction issues of interferometers based on trapped Bose-Einstein condenstates.