Berlin 2014 – scientific programme
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A: Fachverband Atomphysik
A 44: Precision measurements and metrology I (with Q)
A 44.4: Talk
Thursday, March 20, 2014, 15:00–15:15, DO24 1.101
Gravimetric atom interferometer (GAIN): towards mobile absolute gravity measurements — •Christian Freier, Matthias Hauth, Vladimir Schkolnik, and Achim Peters — Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institut für Physik, AG Optische Metrologie, Newtonstr. 15, 12489 Berlin
GAIN (Gravimetric Atom Interferometer) is a mobile atom gravimeter, based on interfering ensembles of laser cooled 87Rb atoms in an atomic fountain configuration. It is specifically designed to show the potential of atom interferometry for mobile gravity measurements in the context of geodesy and geophysics.
We report on recent measurements comparing our atom gravimeter with a state-of-the-art falling corner cube gravimeter and with a super-conducting relative gravimeter. The latter was conducted at the geodetic observatory in Wettzell, demonstrating the mobility and robustness of our set-up.
We achieved a sensitivity of 1×10−8 g/shot with no observable instrumental drift. The derived absolute value of g agrees with the expected number up to a level of 10−8 g. A thorough analysis and/or elimination of systematic effects is currently underway to significantly improve the absolute accuracy in the near future.