New Applications for Atom and Electron Interferometry using Material Gratings

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

The field of atom optics utilizes the fact that atoms propagate as waves. The phase and amplitude of atom waves will be studied with an atom interferometer in order to precisely measure several atomic properties. The atom wave phase shift due to nearby surfaces will be measured to determine atom-surface van der Waals interaction strengths. The atomic response to an electric field will be observed in order to report the atomic polarizability of several different atoms. Both of these experiments use a separated-path Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer that is built with nano-structured gratings. Because the nano-gratings serve as beam splitters for different types of atoms, they allow us to compare the properties of several different atoms. Further characterization of the nanostructures themselves will be accomplished with a new type of electron interferometer that also uses nanofabricated gratings as beam splitters. The use of nano-gratings for both electron and atom interferometry expands the frontiers of quantum physics in several directions. Measurements of van der Waals interaction strengths will test theoretical models that use quantum electrodynamics to predict the potential energy for atoms located 1 to 50 nanometers from multi-layered surfaces. Measurements of atom wave dynamics near surfaces will also help us design compact atom-chip interferometers that may soon become state-of-the art geophysical sensors such as gyroscopes. High precision atomic polarizability measurements serve as a benchmark to test models of atomic structure that are also needed to interpret atomic parity violation experiments as a test of the standard model in particle physics. Thus, experiments with nano-gratings will extend applications of matter-wave interferometry in order to test basic theories in quantum electrodynamics, physical chemistry, and fundamental physics. This work advances the science of Atom Optics and pioneers new applications for nanotechnology. The broader impact of this work also includes both graduate and undergraduate training in atomic, molecular, and optical physics research.