Erlangen 2018 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 58: Precision Measurements and Metrology (Gravity and Miscellaneous) (joint session Q/A)

Q 58.1: Talk

Thursday, March 8, 2018, 10:30–10:45, K 2.013

A high-flux BEC source for the transportable Quantum Gravimeter QG-1 — •Jonas Matthias, Nina Grove, Maral Sahelgozin, Jan Philipp Barbey, Sven Abend, Waldemar Herr, and Ernst M. Rasel — Inst. f. Quantenoptik, LU Hannover

Absolute inertial sensors based on atom interferometry will benefit in two ways from using Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC). First, their low expansion rate reduces the leading order systematic uncertainties of current generation sensors. Second, the per-shot sensitivity will be increased by a higher interferometer contrast and by implementing higher-order Bragg diffraction compared to Raman diffraction used with thermal ensembles. However, formerly the application of BECs was hindered by the size and repition rate of typical BEC experiments, which usually fill a laboratory and have a repetition rate on the order of several ten seconds.

These limitations have been overcome by atom-chip-based BEC sources, which allow compact apparatuses and achieve a high flux at the same time. The source for the transportable Quantum Gravimeter QG-1 consists of a 2D⁺ MOT and a mirror MOT on a three-layer atom chip as published by Rudolph et al, 2015. The atoms will be evaporatively cooled to quantum degeneracy in a magnetic trap and released from the trap for atom interferometry in free fall. In this talk we will present the current progress on atom cooling and Bose-Einstein condensation.

This work is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) as part of project A01 within the SFB 1128 geo-Q.