Comparing thermal and lasing atomic sources for precision inertial measurement
Date
2011
Authors
Debs, John
Altin, Paul
Barter, Thomas
Doering, Daniel
Dennis, Graham
McDonald, Gordon
Robins, Nicholas
Close, John
Anderson, R P
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IEEE
Abstract
We compare the sensitivity of an interferometric measurement of gravity using a freely-falling, lasing atomic source to that achieved with a cold, thermal atomic source. We observe a higher fringe visibility with the lasing source, also the highest yet observed in such a configuration. We improve sensitivity by exploiting large momentum transfer beamsplitting (LMT), and discuss briefly the advantages of using a lasing atomic source for LMT. Most importantly, we measure no degradation of the sensitivity of our interferometer due to interaction induced dephasing at our limit of precision. Using a simple model, we verify this observation and project to beyond state-of-the-art sensitivities, concluding that with reasonable experimental parameters, interaction induced dephasing will not limit the sensitivity of inertial measurements using freely-falling, lasing atomic sources.
Description
Keywords
Keywords: Atomic sources; Dephasing; Experimental parameters; Fringe visibilities; Inertial measurements; Interferometric measurement; Large momentum transfers; Degradation; Optical fibers; Optics; Quantum electronics; Atoms
Citation
Collections
Source
2011 Int. Quantum Electron. Conf., IQEC 2011 and Conf. Lasers and Electro-Optics, CLEO Pacific Rim 2011 Incorporating the Australasian Conf. Optics, Lasers and Spectroscopy and the Australian Conf.
Type
Conference paper