Simultaneous Precision Gravimetry and Magnetic Gradiometry with a Bose-Einstein Condensate: A High Precision, Quantum Sensor

Abstract

A Bose-Einstein condensate is used as an atomic source for a high precision sensor. A 5×106  atom F=1 spinor condensate of 87Rb is released into free fall for up to 750 ms and probed with a T=130  ms Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer based on Bragg transitions. The Bragg interferometer simultaneously addresses the three magnetic states |mf=1,0,−1⟩, facilitating a simultaneous measurement of the acceleration due to gravity with a 1000 run precision of Δg/g=1.45×10−9 and the magnetic field gradient to a precision of 120  pT/m.

Publication
Phys. Rev. Lett., (117), pp. 138501, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.138501

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