Hannover 2010 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 64: Matterwave Optics II

Q 64.4: Talk

Friday, March 12, 2010, 14:45–15:00, A 320

Atom Interferometry in a mobile setup to measure local gravity — •Alexander Senger, Malte Schmidt, Matthias Hauth, 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 and robust gravimeter, which is 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. Furthermore future satellite sensors based on atom interferometry will benefit from GAIN technology and experience.

We introduce the working principle of our interferometer and give an outline of the subsystems needed for a mobile setup. First measurements of local gravity acceleration are presented and the next steps necessary to achieve full accuracy are discussed.