Contrast Interferometry Using Bose-Einstein Condensates to Measure h/m and the Fine Structure Constant

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  • 25 February 2002
Abstract
The kinetic energy of an atom recoiling due to absorption of a photon was measured as a frequency using an interferometric technique called "contrast interferometry". Optical standing wave pulses were used as atom-optical elements to create a symmetric three-path interferometer with a Bose-Einstein condensate. The recoil phase accumulated in different paths was measured using a single-shot detection technique. The scheme allows for additional photon recoils within the interferometer and its symmetry suppresses several random and systematic errors including those from vibrations and ac Stark shifts. We have made a 15 ppm determination of the photon recoil frequency of sodium, using a simple realization of this scheme. Plausible extensions should yield a high precision (about 1 ppb) measurement, allowing a ppb-level determination of h/m and the fine structure constant.

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