Atom Interferometry with Rb Blue Transitions.

Abstract

We demonstrate a novel scheme for Raman-pulse and Bragg-pulse atom interferometry based on the 5S-6P blue transitions of ^{87}Rb that provides an increase by a factor ∼2 of the interferometer phase due to accelerations with respect to the commonly used infrared transition at 780nm. A narrow-linewidth laser system generating more than 1W of light in the 420-422nm range was developed for this purpose. Used as a cold-atom gravity gradiometer, our Raman interferometer attains a stability to differential acceleration measurements of 1×10^{-8} g at 1s and 2×10^{-10} g after 2000s of integration time. When operated on first-order Bragg transitions, the interferometer shows a stability of 6×10^{-8} g at 1s, averaging to 1×10^{-9} g after 2000s of integration time. The instrument sensitivity, currently limited by the noise due to spontaneous emission, can be further improved by increasing the laser power and the detuning from the atomic resonance. The present scheme is attractive for high-precision experiments as, in particular, for the determination of the Newtonian gravitational constant.