Wavefront Mapping for Absolute Atom Interferometry

Abstract

Wavefront distortions are a leading source of systematic uncertainty in light-pulse atom interferometry, limiting absolute measurements of gravitational acceleration at the 30 nm/s${}^2$ level. Here, we demonstrate in situ spatially resolved measurement of the interferometer phase in a Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer as a tool to characterize and correct wavefront bias. By introducing controllable curvature of the Raman light using an adjustable collimation retro-reflector, we show that the bias due to parabolic wavefront curvature can be measured with 1 mrad uncertainty and that finite-size corrections impact the measured phase curvature. This measurement process could be adopted in optimized atom interferometer gravimeters to reduce wavefront bias uncertainty below the nm/s${}^2$ level.

6 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (19)

• Atom Interferometers
• Precision Measurement of the Newtonian Gravitational Constant Using Cold Atoms
• Multi-axis inertial sensing with long-time point source atom interferometry
• Testing General Relativity with Atom Interferometry
• Atom-interferometric test of the equivalence principle at the $10^{-12}$ level
• Long-Term Stability of an Area-Reversible Atom-Interferometer Sagnac Gyroscope
• Mobile quantum gravity sensor with unprecedented stability
• Interleaved Atom Interferometry for High Sensitivity Inertial Measurements
• High-accuracy inertial measurements with cold-atom sensors
• Matter-wave Atomic Gradiometer Interferometric Sensor (MAGIS-100)
• Characterization and limits of a cold atom Sagnac interferometer
• Experiment to detect dark energy forces using atom interferometry
• An Atomic Gravitational Wave Interferometric Sensor in Low Earth Orbit (AGIS-LEO)
• Improving the accuracy of atom interferometers with ultracold sources
• The effect of wavefront aberrations in atom interferometry
• Off-resonant Raman transitions impact in an atom interferometer
• Multi-axis atom interferometer gyroscope with a single source of atoms
• Influence of optical aberrations on the accuracy of an atomic gravimeter
• Sensitivity and Bandwidth of a Point-Source-Interferometry-based Inertial Measurement Unit Employing Large Momentum Transfer and Launched Atoms