Advancing Atom Interferometry with a Bloch-bands Approach

Abstract

This work presents experiments and theory on ``magic depths" in Bloch oscillation acceleration pulses and the implications for advancing atom interferometry. For a particle in a sinusoidal potential, we define the magic depth as the depth where there is a vanishing first derivative of its average energy\footnote{Averaged over the first Brillouin zone.}, occurring only for excited bands. A Bloch-bands picture demonstrates that this average area is proportional to the diffraction phase shift experienced by a particle undergoing Bloch oscillations. A vanishing first derivative permits the phase to be significantly more stable against unavoidable light intensity fluctuations, creating new opportunities for the use of Bloch oscillations within atom interferometers.