Enhancing the area of a Raman atom interferometer using a versatile double-diffraction technique

Thomas Lévèque (1) , Alexandre Gauguet (1) , Franck Michaud (1) , Franck Pereira dos Santos (1) , Arnaud Landragin (1)

1 SYRTE - Systèmes de Référence Temps Espace

IIn this paper we demonstrate a new scheme for Raman transitions which realize a symmetric momentum-space splitting of $4 \hbar k$, deflecting the atomic wave-packets into the same internal state. Combining the advantages of Raman and Bragg diffraction, we achieve a three pulse state labelled interferometer, intrinsically insensitive to the main systematics and applicable to all kind of atomic sources. This splitting scheme can be extended to $4N \hbar k$ momentum transfer by a multipulse sequence and is implemented on a $8 \hbar k$ interferometer. We demonstrate the area enhancement by measuring inertial forces.

Mots clés: Atom interferometry; Raman transition; inertial sensor

Domaines: Physique Atomique [physics.atom-ph]

Thomas Lévèque, Alexandre Gauguet, Franck Michaud, Franck Pereira dos Santos, Arnaud Landragin. Enhancing the area of a Raman atom interferometer using a versatile double-diffraction technique. Physical Review Letters, 2009, 103 (8), pp.080405. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.080405⟩. ⟨hal-00377397v2⟩