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Christophe Cassens

Publications and source records attributed to Christophe Cassens.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

An entanglement-enhanced atomic gravimeter

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 squeezed atoms were demonstrated in internal-state measurements for thermal and quantum-degenerate atoms and, recently, for momentum-state interferometers with laser-cooled atoms. Here, we present a gravimeter based on Bose-Einstein condensates with a sensitivity of $-1.7^{+0.4}_{-0.5}\,$dB beyond the standard quantum limit. Interferometry with Bose-Einstein condensates combined with delta-kick collimation minimizes atom loss in and improves scalability of the interferometer to very-long baseline atom interferometers.

quant-ph

Dynamical low-noise microwave source for cold-atom experiments

The generation and manipulation of ultracold atomic ensembles in the quantum regime require the application of dynamically controllable microwave fields with ultra-low noise performance. Here, we present a low-phase-noise microwave source with two independently controllable output paths. Both paths generate frequencies in the range of $6.835\,$GHz $\pm$ $25\,$MHz for hyperfine transitions in $^{87}$Rb. The presented microwave source combines two commercially available frequency synthesizers: an ultra-low-noise oscillator at $7\,$GHz and a direct digital synthesizer for radiofrequencies. We demonstrate a low integrated phase noise of $480\,μ$rad in the range of $10\,$Hz to $100\,$kHz and fast updates of frequency, amplitude and phase in sub-$μ$s time scales. The highly dynamic control enables the generation of shaped pulse forms and the deployment of composite pulses to suppress the influence of various noise sources.

quant-ph