Abstract
We present an elegant application of matter-wave interferometry to the velocimetry of cold atoms whereby, in analogy to Fourier transform spectroscopy, the one-dimensional velocity distribution is manifest in the frequency domain of the interferometer output. By using stimulated Raman transitions between hyperfine ground states to perform a three-pulse interferometer sequence, we have measured the velocity distributions of clouds of freely expanding atoms with temperatures of 34 and . Quadrature measurement of the interferometer output as a function of the temporal asymmetry yields velocity distributions with excellent fidelity. Our technique, which is particularly suited to ultracold samples, compares favorably with conventional Doppler and time-of-flight techniques, and it reveals artefacts in standard Raman Doppler methods. The technique is related to, and provides a conceptual foundation of, interferometric matter-wave accelerometry, gravimetry, and rotation sensing.
3 More- Received 12 February 2018
- Corrected 17 September 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.99.023631
©2019 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Corrections
17 September 2020
Correction: One of the previously listed co-authors, David Elcock, requested that his name be removed from the author list, which has been implemented. A statement of thanks to Dr. Elcock has been added to the Acknowledgments.