A continuous cold atomic beam interferometer

Journal Article · Sat Mar 07 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4913711· OSTI ID:22413223

Xue, Hongbo ^[1]; Feng, Yanying; Yan, Xueshu; Jiang, Zhikun ^[1]; Chen, Shu ^[2]; Wang, Xiaojia ^[3]; Zhou, Zhaoying ^[1]

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1. State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)
2. Joint Institute for Measurement Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)
3. College of Mechanical Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024 (China)

We demonstrate an atom interferometer that uses a laser-cooled continuous beam of {sup 87}Rb atoms having velocities of 10–20 m/s. With spatially separated Raman beams to coherently manipulate the atomic wave packets, Mach–Zehnder interference fringes are observed at an interference distance of 2L = 19 mm. The apparatus operates within a small enclosed area of 0.07 mm{sup 2} at a bandwidth of 190 Hz with a deduced sensitivity of 7.8×10{sup −5} rad/s/√(Hz) for rotations. Using a low-velocity continuous atomic source in an atom interferometer enables high sampling rates and bandwidths without sacrificing sensitivity and compactness, which are important for applications in real dynamic environments.

• OSTI ID: 22413223
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 117, Issue 9; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ATOMIC BEAMS
ATOMS
INTERFERENCE
MACH-ZEHNDER INTERFEROMETER
RAMAN EFFECT
ROTATION
RUBIDIUM 87
SENSITIVITY
WAVE PACKETS