Atom interferometry having spatially resolved phase

摘要

In an atom interferometer, improved results are obtained by configuring the interferometer to have a baseline fringe pattern, in combination with spatially resolved measurements at the interferometer ports. Two aspects of this idea are provided. In the first aspect, the atoms are configured to expand from an initial point-like spatial distribution. The result is an informative correlation between atom position and interferometer phase. In the second aspect, a phase shear is applied to the atom ensemble of an atom interferometer. In both cases, spatially resolved measurements at the interferometer ports can provide enhanced interferometer performance, such as single-shot operation.

主权项

1. An atom interferometer comprising:
an atom source; an interferometer region where atoms from the atom source are configured to propagate such that the atoms have interfering quantum amplitudes having a relative phase; at least one imaging detector, wherein a probability of detection of the atoms at the at least one imaging detector depends on the relative phase, and wherein the at least one imaging detector is configured to provide a spatially resolved image of the relative phase; wherein the interferometer is configured to provide a predetermined baseline fringe pattern at the at least one imaging detector, and wherein an output signal from the interferometer is obtained by analysis of a measured interference fringe pattern compared to the baseline fringe pattern.