Abstract
We propose and demonstrate a method to increase the momentum separation between the arms of an atom interferometer and thus its area and measurement precision, by using Bloch oscillations (BOs) in an excited band of a pulsed optical standing-wave lattice. Using excited bands allows us to operate at particular “magic” depths, where high momentum-transfer efficiency ( per , where is the photon momentum) is maintained while minimizing the lattice-induced phase fluctuations ( per ) that are unavoidable in ground-band BOs. We apply this method to demonstrate interferometry with up to momenta supplied by BOs. We discuss extensions of this technique to larger momentum transfer and adaptations towards metrological applications of atom interferometry such as a measurement of the fine-structure constant.
- Received 18 December 2019
- Accepted 28 January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.101.023614
©2020 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Synopsis
A More Precise Atom Interferometer
Published 12 March 2020
A method that increases the precision of atom interferometers could lead to improved force and energy measurements for testing physics beyond the standard model.
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