Hannover 2013 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 35: Poster I
Q 35.67: Poster
Tuesday, March 19, 2013, 16:00–18:30, Empore Lichthof
Towards an inertial sensitive 39K matter wave interferometer — •Henning Albers, Jonas Hartwig, Dennis Schlippert, Ulrich Velte, Jonas Matthias, Wolfgang Ertmer, and Ernst M. Rasel — Institut für Quantenoptik and Centre for Quantum Engineering and Space-Time Research - QUEST, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Welfengarten 1, 30167 Hannover, Germany
We report on our work directed towards a space-time enclosing 39K matter-wave interferometer.
Due its relatively low atomic mass and the small excited state hyperfine splitting on the order of only few linewidths 39K is rather hard to cool. Therefore we investigate methods for efficient sub-Doppler cooling, e.g. dark optical molasses techniques, UV-cooling and prospects of evaporative and/or sympathetic cooling in an optical dipole trap.
We employ a three-dimensional magneto-optical trap (3D-MOT) loaded from a 2D-MOT. Our laser system is based on lasers phase-locked to a spectroscopy-locked reference laser. Frequencies for cooling, repumping and detection, as well as the light for driving stimulated Raman-transitions are then generated using double-pass acousto-optical modulators yielding both simplicity and stability. Also, cooling and repumping light are amplified in the same tapered amplifiers with only low losses into sidebands due to four-wave mixing. The laser system provides a total of 3W output power. We discuss performing a differential measurement of the acceleration of free falling 87Rb and 39K atoms to test Einstein’s equivalence principle (universality of free fall).