Thursday, December 20, 2012

1212.4635 (G. D. McDonald et al.)

Optically guided linear Mach Zehnder atom interferometer    [PDF]

G. D. McDonald, H. Keal, P. A. Altin, J. E. Debs, S. Bennetts, C. C. N. Kuhn, K. S. Hardman, M. T. Johnsson, J. D. Close, N. P. Robins
We demonstrate a horizontal, linearly guided Mach Zehnder atom interferometer in an optical waveguide. Intended as a proof-of-principle experiment, the interferometer utilises a Bose-Einstein condensate in the magnetically insensitive |F=1,mF=0> state of Rubidium-87 as an acceleration sensitive test mass. We achieve a modest sensitivity to acceleration of da = 7x10^-4 m/s^2. Our fringe visibility is as high as 38% in this optically guided atom interferometer. We observe a time-of-flight in the waveguide of over half a second, demonstrating the utility of our optical guide for future sensors.
View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1212.4635

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