Measurement of the Earth's Gravity Gradient with an Atom Interferometer-Based Gravity Gradiometer

M. J. Snadden; J. M. McGuirk; P. Bouyer; K. G. Haritos; M. A. Kasevich

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.971

Measurement of the Earth's Gravity Gradient with an Atom Interferometer-Based Gravity Gradiometer

M. J. Snadden, J. M. McGuirk, P. Bouyer, K. G. Haritos, and M. A. Kasevich

Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 971 – Published 3 August 1998

Abstract

We report the demonstration of an atom interferometer-based gravity gradiometer. The gradiometer uses stimulated two-photon Raman transitions to measure the relative accelerations of two ensembles of laser cooled atoms. We have used this instrument to measure the gradient of the Earth's gravitational field.

Received 22 January 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.971

Authors & Affiliations

M. J. Snadden, J. M. McGuirk, P. Bouyer^*, K. G. Haritos^†, and M. A. Kasevich

Physics Department, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520

^*Present address: Groupe d'Optique Atomique, Institut d'Optique Théorique et Appliqué, BP 147, 91403 Orsay, France.
^†Present address: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, 3500 Deer Creek Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304.