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Register a new userAtom Interferometry in Space: Thermal Management and Magnetic Shielding
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Added by
Norman G\\\"urlebeck
Publication date
2014
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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Atom interferometry is an exciting tool to probe fundamental physics. It is considered especially apt to test the universality of free fall by using two different sorts of atoms. The increasing sensitivity required for this kind of experiment sets severe requirements on its environments, instrument control, and systematic effects. This can partially be mitigated by going to space as was proposed, for example, in the Spacetime Explorer and Quantum Equivalence Principle Space Test (STE-QUEST) mission. However, the requirements on the instrument are still very challenging. For example, the specifications of the STE-QUEST mission imply that the Feshbach coils of the atom interferometer are allowed to change their radius only by about 260 nm or 2.6E-4% due to thermal expansion although they consume an average power of 22 W. Also Earths magnetic field has to be suppressed by a factor of 10E5. We show in this article that with the right design such thermal and magnetic requirements can indeed be met and that these are not an impediment for the exciting physics possible with atom interferometers in space.
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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 25 years. We calculate the effect of the GW on the atom interferometer and present in details the atomic gradiometer configuration which has retained more attention recently. The principle of such a detector is to use free falling atoms to measure the phase of a laser, which is modified by the GW. We highlight the potential benefits of using atom interferometry compared to optical interferometry as well as the challenges which remain for the realization of an atom interferometry based GW detector. We present some of the important noise sources which are expected in such detectors and strategies to cirucumvent them. Experimental techniques related to cold atom interferometers are briefly explained. We finally present the current progress and projects in this rapidly evolving field.
Atom interferometers have a multitude of proposed applications in space including precise measurements of the Earths gravitational field, in navigation & ranging, and in fundamental physics such as tests of the weak equivalence principle (WEP) and gravitational wave detection. While atom interferometers are realized routinely in ground-based laboratories, current efforts aim at the development of a space compatible design optimized with respect to dimensions, weight, power consumption, mechanical robustness and radiation hardness. In this paper, we present a design of a high-sensitivity differential dual species $^{85}$Rb/$^{87}$Rb atom interferometer for space, including physics package, laser system, electronics and software. The physics package comprises the atom source consisting of dispensers and a 2D magneto-optical trap (MOT), the science chamber with a 3D-MOT, a magnetic trap based on an atom chip and an optical dipole trap (ODT) used for Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) creation and interferometry, the detection unit, the vacuum system for $10^{-11}$ mbar ultra-high vacuum generation, and the high-suppression factor magnetic shielding as well as the thermal control system. The laser system is based on a hybrid approach using fiber-based telecom components and high-power laser diode technology and includes all laser sources for 2D-MOT, 3D-MOT, ODT, interferometry and detection. Manipulation and switching of the laser beams is carried out on an optical bench using Zerodur bonding technology. The instrument consists of 9 units with an overall mass of 221 kg, an average power consumption of 608 W (819 W peak), and a volume of 470 liters which would well fit on a satellite to be launched with a Soyuz rocket, as system studies have shown.
The effect of passive magnetic shielding on dc magnetic field gradients imposed by both external and internal sources is studied. It is found that for concentric cylindrical or spherical shells of high permeability material, higher order multipoles in the magnetic field are shielded progressively better, by a factor related to the order of the multipole. In regard to the design of internal coil systems for the generation of uniform internal fields, we show how one can take advantage of the coupling of the coils to the innermost magnetic shield to further optimize the uniformity of the field. These results demonstrate quantitatively a phenomenon that was previously well-known qualitatively: that the resultant magnetic field within a passively magnetically shielded region can be much more uniform than the applied magnetic field itself. Furthermore we provide formulae relevant to active magnetic compensation systems which attempt to stabilize the interior fields by sensing and cancelling the exterior fields close to the outermost magnetic shielding layer. Overall this work provides a comprehensive framework needed to analyze and optimize dc magnetic shields, serving as a theoretical and conceptual design guide as well as a starting point and benchmark for finite-element analysis.
We report on the design, construction, and characterization of a 10 m-long high-performance magnetic shield for Very Long Baseline Atom Interferometry (VLBAI). We achieve residual fields below 4 nT and longitudinal inhomogeneities below 2.5 nT/m over 8 m along the longitudinal direction. Our modular design can be extended to longer baselines without compromising the shielding performance. Such a setup constrains biases associated with magnetic field gradients to the sub-pm/$textrm{s}^2$ level in atomic matterwave accelerometry with rubidium atoms and paves the way towards tests of the universality of free fall with atomic test masses beyond the $10^{-13}$ level.
It is a commonly stated that the acceleration sensitivity of an atom interferometer is proportional to the space-time area enclosed between the two interfering arms. Here we derive the interferometric phase shift for an extensive class of interferometers, and explore the circumstances in which only the inertial terms contribute. We then analyse various configurations in light of this geometric interpretation of the interferometric phase shift.
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