• DOI:10.1088/1367-2630/aab088
• Corpus ID: 58898981

Bragg gravity-gradiometer using the 1S0–3P1 intercombination transition of 88Sr

@article{delAguila2018BraggGU,
  title={Bragg gravity-gradiometer using the 1S0–3P1 intercombination transition of 88Sr},
  author={R P del Aguila and Tommaso Mazzoni and Liang Hu and Leonardo Salvi and Guglielmo Maria Tino and Nicola Poli},
  journal={New Journal of Physics},
  year={2018},
  volume={20}
}

• R. P. del Aguila, T. Mazzoni, +3 authors N. Poli
• Published 4 December 2017
• Physics
• New Journal of Physics

We present a gradiometer based on matter-wave interference of alkaline-earth-metal atoms, namely 88Sr. The coherent manipulation of the atomic external degrees of freedom is obtained by large-momentum-transfer Bragg diffraction, driven by laser fields detuned away from the narrow 1S0–3P1 intercombination transition. We use a well-controlled artificial gradient, realized by changing the relative frequencies of the Bragg pulses during the interferometer sequence, in order to characterize the sensitivity of the gradiometer. The sensitivity reaches 1.5 × 10−5 s−2 for an interferometer time of 20 ms, limited only by geometrical constraints. We observed extremely low sensitivity of the gradiometric phase to magnetic field gradients, approaching a value 104 times lower than the sensitivity of alkali-atom based gradiometers, limited by the interferometer sensitivity. An efficient double-launch technique employing accelerated red vertical lattices from a single magneto-optical trap cloud is also demonstrated. These results highlight strontium as an ideal candidate for precision measurements of gravity gradients, with potential application in future precision tests of fundamental physics.