Matter-wave collimation to picokelvin energies with scattering length and potential shape control

authored by

Alexander Herbst, Timothé Estrampes, Henning Albers, Robin Corgier, Knut Stolzenberg, Sebastian Bode, Eric Charron, Ernst m. Rasel, Naceur Gaaloul, Dennis Schlippert

Abstract

The sensitivity of atom interferometers depends on their ability to realize long pulse separation times and prevent loss of contrast by limiting the expansion of the atomic ensemble within the interferometer beam through matter-wave collimation. Here we investigate the impact of atomic interactions on collimation by applying a lensing protocol to a

³⁹K Bose-Einstein condensate at different scattering lengths. Tailoring interactions, we measure energies corresponding to (340 ± 12) pK in one direction. Our results are supported by an accurate simulation, which allows us to extrapolate a 2D ballistic expansion energy of (438 ± 77) pK. Based on our findings we propose an advanced scenario, which enables 3D expansion energies below 16 pK by implementing an additional pulsed delta-kick. Our results pave the way to realize ensembles with more than 1 × 10

⁵ atoms and 3D energies in the two-digit pK range in typical dipole trap setups without the need for micro-gravity or long baseline environments.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Quantum Optics
Quantum Sensing
Guided Matter Wave Interferometry
Laboratory of Nano and Quantum Engineering
QUEST-Leibniz Research School
QuantumFrontiers

Type

Article

Journal

Communications Physics

Volume

7

ISSN

2399-3650

Publication date

25.04.2024

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Physics and Astronomy(all)

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-024-01621-w (Access: Open)