Fabry-Pérot interferometer for atoms

Tunneling gravimetry

We examine the prospects of utilizing matter-wave Fabry-Pérot interferometers for enhanced inertial sensing applications. Our study explores such tunneling-based sensors for the measurement of accelerations in two configurations: (a) a transmission setup, where the initial wave packet is transmitted through the cavity and (b) an out-tunneling scheme with intra-cavity generated initial states lacking a classical counterpart. We perform numerical simulations of the complete dynamics of the quantum wave packet, investigate the tunneling through a matter-wave cavity formed by realistic optical potentials and determine the impact of interactions between atoms. As a consequence we estimate the prospective sensitivities to inertial forces for both proposed configurations and show their feasibility for serving as inertial sensors.

An atomic Fabry-Perot interferometer using a pulsed interacting Bose-Einstein condensate

We numerically demonstrate atomic Fabry-Perot resonances for a pulsed interacting Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) source transmitting through double Gaussian barriers. These resonances are observable for an experimentally-feasible parameter choice, which we determined using a previously-developed analytical model for a plane matter-wave incident on a double rectangular barrier system. Through numerical simulations using the non-polynomial Schödinger equation-an effective one-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation-we investigate the effect of atom number, scattering length, and BEC momentum width on the resonant transmission peaks. For [Formula: see text]Rb atomic sources with the current experimentally-achievable momentum width of [Formula: see text] [[Formula: see text]], we show that reasonably high contrast Fabry-Perot resonant transmission peaks can be observed using (a) non-interacting BECs, (b) interacting BECs of [Formula: see text] atoms with s-wave scattering lengths [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text] is the Bohr radius), and (c) interacting BECs of [Formula: see text] atoms with [Formula: see text]. Our theoretical investigation impacts any future experimental realization of an atomic Fabry-Perot interferometer with an ultracold atomic source.

Impact of the Casimir-Polder potential and Johnson noise on Bose-Einstein condensate stability near surfaces

We investigate the stability of magnetically trapped atomic Bose-Einstein condensates and thermal clouds near the transition temperature at small distances 0.5 microm< or =d< or =10 microm from a microfabricated silicon chip. For a 2 microm thick copper film, the trap lifetime is limited by Johnson noise induced currents and falls below 1 s at a distance of 4 microm. A dielectric surface does not adversely affect the sample until the attractive Casimir-Polder potential significantly reduces the trap depth.

Modulated optical lattice as an atomic fabry-perot interferometer

We propose to engineer the atomic band structure in optical lattices in order to design a Fabry-Perot interferometer with large mode spacing and strong nonlinear coupling to be employed in atom optics. The use of an optical lattice allows for a significant reduction of the atomic effective mass, while the slow modulation of its parameters spatially confines the matter waves on a length scale of a few dozen optical wavelengths. As a consequence, the mode spacing in such a cavity would be as high as one-tenth of the recoil energy, allowing for a very efficient filter action, while the nonlinear coupling due to interatomic interactions could lead to bistability and limiting effects in the transmission of the atomic beam.