Matter-wave beam splitter on an atom chip for a portable atom-interferometer

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a compact, portable matter-wave beam splitter using a Bose-Einstein condensate on an atom chip, enabling high-repetition-rate atom interferometry with practical applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, miniaturized BEC beam splitter system on an atom chip suitable for portable interferometers.

Findings

Successfully split BEC into two clouds with variable separation

Observed interference patterns between expanding BECs

Achieved high repetition rate of ~0.2 Hz in a compact system

Abstract

We construct a matter-wave beam splitter using 87Rb Bose-Einstein condensate on an atom chip. Through the use of radio-frequency-induced double-well potentials, we were able to split a BEC into two clouds separated by distances ranging from 2.8 {\mu}m to 57 {\mu}m. Interference between these two freely expanding BECs has been observed. By varying the rf-field amplitude, frequency, or polarization, we investigate behaviors of the beam-splitter. From the perspective of practical use, our BEC manipulation system is suitable for application to interferometry since it is compact and the repetition rate is high due to the anodic bonded atom chip on the vacuum cell. The portable system occupies a volume of 0.5 m3 and operates at a repetition rate as high as ~0.2 Hz.