Atom interferometry with the Sr optical clock transition

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a novel atom interferometer using strontium's optical clock transition, achieving high sensitivity for gravity measurements and potential applications in gravitational wave detection and fundamental physics.

Contribution

It introduces a single-photon atom interferometer with strontium atoms, showing its capability as a gravimeter and gravity gradiometer with high precision and stability.

Findings

Interferometer operates without contrast loss up to 10 ms.

Sensitivity approaches shot noise limit in gradiometric setup.

Potential for detecting gravitational waves in new frequency ranges.

Abstract

We report on the realization of a matter-wave interferometer based on single-photon interaction on the ultra-narrow optical clock transition of strontium atoms. We experimentally demonstrated its operation as a gravimeter and as a gravity gradiometer. No reduction of interferometric contrast was observed up to an interferometer time $2T=10$ ms, limited by geometric constraints of the apparatus. In the gradiometric configuration, the sensitivity approaches the shot noise limit. Single-photon interferometers represent a new class of high-precision sensors that could be used for the detection of gravitational waves in so far unexplored frequency ranges and to enlighten the boundary between Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity.