Friday Quantum Seminar
Atom interferometers can be used for diverse applications, ranging from the exploration of fundamental aspects of physics, such as measuring field parameters or testing gravity [1, 2], to employment as a measurement device, for instance, an accelerometer or in rotation sensing [3,4]. In order to increase the measured phase of an atom interferometer and improve its sensitivity, we can increase the space-time area enclosed by the interferometer arms using two methods: creating larger separations between the interferometer arms and having longer evolution times. However, increasing the evolution time reduces the bandwidth that can be sampled, whereas decreasing the evolution time worsens the sensitivity. We attempt to address this by proposing a setup for high-bandwidth applications, with improved overall sensitivity. This is realized by accelerating and holding the atoms using optical tweezer traps. We find that accelerations of up to 103-105 m/s2 can be achieved using acousto-optic deflectors (AODs) to move the tweezers. However, due to the combination of an AOD with lenses, the maximum distance that can be covered is restricted to the field of view of the objective. Further, noise from uncorrelated traps may limit trapping times to as short as a millisecond. Nevertheless, if the traps are made to be highly correlated, much longer coherence times are possible, enabling compact devices with long hold times.
[1] V. Xu, M. Jaffe, C. D. Panda, S. L. Kristensen, L. W. Clark, and H. Müller, Probing gravity by holding atoms for 20 seconds, Science 366, 745 (2019).
[2] D. Carney, H. Müller, and J. M. Taylor, Using an Atom Interferometer to Infer Gravitational Entanglement Generation, PRX Quantum 2, 030330 (2021).
[3] B. M. Anderson, J. M. Taylor, and V. M. Galitski, Interferometry with synthetic gauge fields, Phys. Rev. A 83, 031602 (2011).
[4] E. R. Moan, R. A. Horne, T. Arpornthip, Z. Luo, A. J. Fallon, S. J. Berl, and C. A. Sackett, Quantum Rotation Sensing with Dual Sagnac Interferometers in an Atom-Optical Waveguide, Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 120403 (2020).
Pizza and drinks will be served after the seminar in ATL 2117.