Optimizing the Performance of a Condensate Interferometer
Abstract
An atom interferometer using Bose-Einstein condensates confined in a magnetic trap has been investigated. Several performance barriers have been studied and overcome. One source of performance degradation is the residual velocity of atoms in the trap. We determined that this motion was largely due to external magnetic field noise, and were able to stabilize it. We have also developed novel coupling techniques that reduce sensitivity to residual motion. A second performance obstacle was spatial noise in the coupling laser beam. This was determined to come from vacuum-cell windows of insufficient quality, and was remediated with a better cell. These improvements led to a factor-of-two improvement in both interferometer visibility and interaction time. Further investigation has determined that performance is now limited by the axial confinement of the magnetic trap. Work is underway to design a new trap with less confinement.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 13, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA500812
Entities
People
- Charles A. Sackett
Organizations
- University of Virginia