Related papers: A theoretical analysis and determination of the te…
Atom interferometers with long baselines are envisioned to complement the ongoing search for dark matter. They rely on atomic manipulation based on internal (clock) transitions or state-preserving atomic diffraction. Principally, dark…
The use of retro-reflection in light-pulse atom interferometry under microgravity conditions naturally leads to a double-diffraction scheme. The two pairs of counterpropagating beams induce simultaneously transitions with opposite momentum…
We characterize the performance of a gravimeter and a gravity gradiometer based on the $^{1}$S$_{0}$-$^3$P$_0$ clock transition of strontium atoms. We use this new quantum sensor to measure the gravitational acceleration with a relative…
This paper explores the sensitivity gains afforded by spin-squeezed states in atom interferometry, in particular using Bragg diffraction. We introduce a generalised input-output formalism that accurately describes realistic, non-unitary…
We proposed the European Laboratory for Gravitation and Atom-interferometric Research (ELGAR), an array of atom gradiometers aimed at studying space-time and gravitation with the primary goal of observing gravitational waves (GWs) in the…
We have developed a matter wave interferometer based on the diffraction of atoms from effective absorption gratings of light. In a setup with cold rubidium atoms in an atomic fountain the interferometer has been used to carry out tests of…
Bragg diffraction has been used in atom interferometers because it allows signal enhancement through multiphoton momentum transfer and suppression of systematics by not changing the internal state of atoms. Its multi-port nature, however,…
We present a detailed study of the effects of imperfect atom-optical manipulation in Bragg-based light-pulse atom interferometers. Off-resonant higher-order diffraction leads to population loss, spurious interferometer paths, and…
Interferometers based on ultra-cold atoms enable an absolute measurement of inertial forces with unprecedented precision. However, their resolution is fundamentally restricted by quantum fluctuations. Improved resolutions with entangled or…
We developed a gravity-gradiometer based on atom interferometry for the determination of the Newtonian gravitational constant \textit{G}. The apparatus, combining a Rb fountain, Raman interferometry and a juggling scheme for fast launch of…
This thesis develops a general theoretical and numerical framework for achieving high-contrast atom interferometry based on double Bragg diffraction (DBD). While DBD offers intrinsic symmetry, reduced sensitivity to internal-state…
We report on a detailed investigation of the dynamics and the saturation of a light grating stored in a sample of cold cesium atoms. We employ Bragg diffraction to retrieve the stored optical information impressed into the atomic coherence…
In atom interferometers based on two photon transitions, the delay induced by the difference of the laser beams paths makes the interferometer sensitive to the fluctuations of the frequency of the lasers. We first study, in the general…
We report on the first atom interferometer based on Bragg diffraction in a fountain of alkaline-earth atoms, namely $^{88}$Sr. We demonstrate large momentum transfer to the atoms up to eight photon recoils and the use of the interferometer…
Atom interferometers have been developed in the last three decades as new powerful tools to investigate gravity. They were used for measuring the gravity acceleration, the gravity gradient, and the gravity-field curvature, for the…
We report on a trapped atom interferometer based on Bragg diffraction and Bloch oscillations with alkaline-earth-metal atoms. We use a Ramsey-Bord\'e Bragg interferometer with $^{88}$Sr atoms combined with Bloch oscillations to extend the…
We report on the observation of Bragg scattering at 1D atomic lattices. Cold atoms are confined by optical dipole forces at the antinodes of a standing wave generated by the two counter-propagating modes of a laser-driven high-finesse ring…
We present the perspective of using atom interferometry for gravitational wave (GW) detection in the mHz to about 10 Hz frequency band. We focus on light-pulse atom interferometers which have been subject to intense developments in the last…
In the presence of Earth gravity and gravity-gradient forces, centrifugal and Coriolis forces caused by the Earth rotation, the phase of the time-domain atom interferometers is calculated with accuracy up to the terms proportional to the…
IIn this paper we demonstrate a new scheme for Raman transitions which realize a symmetric momentum-space splitting of $4 \hbar k$, deflecting the atomic wave-packets into the same internal state. Combining the advantages of Raman and Bragg…