Asymmetric double-well potential for single-atom interferometry

Journal Article · Tue Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2006 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.74.023612· OSTI ID:20853109

Sidorov, A I; Dalton, B J; Whitlock, S M; Scharnberg, F ^[1]

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1. ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum-Atom Optics and Centre for Atom Optics and Ultrafast Spectroscopy, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria 3122 (Australia)

We consider the evolution of a single-atom wave function in a time-dependent double-well interferometer in the presence of a spatially asymmetric potential. We examine a case where a single trapping potential is split into an asymmetric double well and then recombined again. The interferometer involves a measurement of the first excited state population as a sensitive measure of the asymmetric potential. Based on a two-mode approximation a Bloch vector model provides a simple and satisfactory description of the dynamical evolution. We discuss the roles of adiabaticity and asymmetry in the double-well interferometer. The Bloch model allows us to account for the effects of asymmetry on the excited state population throughout the interferometric process and to choose the appropriate splitting, holding, and recombination periods in order to maximize the output signal. We also compare the outcomes of the Bloch vector model with the results of numerical simulations of the multistate time-dependent Schroedinger equation.

• OSTI ID: 20853109
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 74, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.74.023612; (c) 2006 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
APPROXIMATIONS
ASYMMETRY
ATOMS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
EXCITED STATES
INTERFEROMETERS
INTERFEROMETRY
POTENTIALS
RECOMBINATION
SCHROEDINGER EQUATION
TIME DEPENDENCE
TRAPPING
VECTORS
WAVE FUNCTIONS