${T}^{3}$ Stern-Gerlach Matter-Wave Interferometer

$T^{3}$ Stern-Gerlach Matter-Wave Interferometer

O. Amit, Y. Margalit, O. Dobkowski, Z. Zhou, Y. Japha, M. Zimmermann, M. A. Efremov, F. A. Narducci, E. M. Rasel, W. P. Schleich, and R. Folman

Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 083601 – Published 21 August 2019

Abstract

We present a unique matter-wave interferometer whose phase scales with the cube of the time the atom spends in the interferometer. Our scheme is based on a full-loop Stern-Gerlach interferometer incorporating four magnetic field gradient pulses to create a state-dependent force. In contrast to typical atom interferometers that make use of laser light for the splitting and recombination of the wave packets, this realization uses no light and can therefore serve as a high-precision surface probe at very close distances.

Received 2 March 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.083601

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atom interferometry Coherent control Cold atoms & matter waves

Bose gases

Atomic, Molecular & Optical

Authors & Affiliations

O. Amit^1,*, Y. Margalit^1,2, O. Dobkowski¹, Z. Zhou¹, Y. Japha¹, M. Zimmermann³, M. A. Efremov³, F. A. Narducci⁴, E. M. Rasel⁵, W. P. Schleich^3,6,7, and R. Folman¹

¹Department of Physics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva 84105, Israel
²Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
³Institut für Quantenphysik and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQST), Universität Ulm, D-89081 Ulm, Germany
⁴Department of Physics, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California 93943, USA
⁵Institut für Quantenoptik, Leibniz Universität Hannover, D-30167 Hannover, Germany
⁶Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering (IQSE), and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-4242, USA
⁷Institute of Quantum Technologies, German Aerospace Center (DLR), D-89069 Ulm, Germany