An Atom Interferometer inside a Hollow-core Photonic Crystal Fiber

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates an atom interferometer integrated inside a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber, enabling diffraction-free operation and promising advancements in compact quantum sensing and precision measurement.

Contribution

It introduces a novel integration of atom interferometry within a hollow-core fiber, overcoming diffraction limitations and enhancing miniaturization and efficiency.

Findings

Interferometer operates over diffraction-free distances.

Phase shifts and contrasts match within one standard error.

Potential for improved quantum sensing applications.

Abstract

Coherent interactions between electromagnetic and matter waves lie at the heart of quantum science and technology. However, the diffraction nature of light has limited the scalability of many atom-light based quantum systems. Here, we use the optical fields in a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber to spatially split, reflect, and recombine a coherent superposition state of free-falling 85Rb atoms to realize an inertia-sensitive atom interferometer. The interferometer operates over a diffraction-free distance, and the contrasts and phase shifts at different distances agree within one standard error. The integration of phase coherent photonic and quantum systems here shows great promise to advance the capability of atom interferometers in the field of precision measurement and quantum sensing with miniature design of apparatus and high efficiency of laser power consumption.