A scalable high-performance magnetic shield for Very Long Baseline Atom Interferometry

Abstract

We report on the design, construction, and characterization of a 10 m-long high-performance magnetic shield for Very Long Baseline Atom Interferometry (VLBAI). We achieve residual fields below 4 nT and longitudinal inhomogeneities below 2.5 nT/m over 8 m along the longitudinal direction. Our modular design can be extended to longer baselines without compromising the shielding performance. Such a setup constrains biases associated with magnetic field gradients to the sub-pm/${\text{s}}^2$ level in atomic matterwave accelerometry with rubidium atoms and paves the way towards tests of the universality of free fall with atomic test masses beyond the $10^{-13}$ level.

6 pages, 5 figures