Progress towards a matter wave interferometer for inertial sensing with non-destructive monitoring of Bloch oscillations

TL;DR

This paper discusses progress in developing a continuous matter-wave interferometer for inertial sensing, utilizing non-destructive observation of Bloch oscillations in ultracold strontium-88 atoms within an optical lattice.

Contribution

It introduces a novel setup for real-time, non-destructive monitoring of Bloch oscillations in a matter-wave interferometer using a ring cavity with ultracold strontium atoms.

Findings

Successful cooling of 10^5 strontium-88 atoms below 1μK

Implementation of a ring cavity optical lattice for Bloch oscillations

Development of a laser spectrometer for atom-cavity interaction

Abstract

We report on our progress in the construction of a continuous matter-wave interferometer for inertial sensing via the non-destructive observation of Bloch oscillations. At the present stage of the experiment, around $10^5$strontium-88 atoms are cooled down to below 1$\mu${\mu}K. Pumped by lasers red-tuned with respect to the 7.6 kHz broad intercombination transition of strontium, the two counterpropagating modes of the ring cavity form a one-dimensional optical lattice in which the atoms, accelerated by gravity, will perform Bloch oscillations. The atomic motion can be monitored in real-time via its impact on the counterpropagating light fields. We present the actual state of the experiment and characterize the laser spectrometer developed to drive the atom-cavity interaction.