Welcome to the Atom Interferometry webpage
The Atom Chip Group does a wide variety of atom interferometry experiments, where we use the atom chip to accurate manipulate the atoms. See the numerous papers in our Papers section.
(see a popular account of the atom chip in:link).
Although we investigate a wide variety of topics (e.g. see a realization of a quantum work meter in 2017), atom interferometry stands at the core of our group.
For example, we were the first to show that spatial interferometry is possible as close as 5 micro-meters from a room temperature surface. This opens the road to a new field called Atomtronics, whereby arbitrary circuits for atoms will be realized on the atom chip.
We were also the first to observe spatial interference fringes from a Stern-Gerlach interferometer, and the first to realize a full-loop Stern-Gerlach Interferometer.
Here are some additional fundamental atom-interferometry experiments:
• We have developed clock interferometry to test the interface of quantum mechanics and general relativity (See a popular newspaper account:link, see a popular video account: link) • We have observed the Pancharatnam geometric phase. • We have realized a unique T^3 scaling interferometer, confirming a prediction from 1927. This interferometer has already been heralded as a possible tool to test the quantum nature of the equivalence principle. • Most recently, we have used atom interferometry to discover a new phenomenon related to quantum Moire patterns.
On the technological front, we are developing interferometry as acceleration and gravitational sensors. For example, A Sagnac high-finesse, and point-source interferometry as rotation sensors.
Follow us on our What's New web page.