Hannover 2010 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 21: Poster I

Q 21.33: Poster

Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 16:00–19:00, Lichthof

Atom Interferometry in a mobile setup to measure local gravity — •Matthias Hauth, Alexander Senger, Malte Schmidt, Sebastian Grede, Christian Freier, and Achim Peters — Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Institut für Physik, AG Optische Metrologie, Hausvogteiplatz 5-7, 10117 Berlin

GAIN (Gravimetric Atom Interferometer) is a mobile gravimeter, based on interfering ensembles of laser cooled ⁸⁷Rb atoms in an atomic fountain configuration. With a targeted accuracy of a few parts in 10¹⁰ for the measurement of local gravity, g, this instrument will offer about an order of magnitude improvement in performance over the best currently available absolute gravimeters. Together with the capability to perform measurements directly at sites of geophysical interest, this opens up the possibility for a number of interesting applications.

We give an introduction into the working principle of our mobile atom interferometer and into the realisation of its subsystems optimized for mobility. Furthermore, first measurements of local gravity as well as some main characteristics of the instrument are presented.