Design and Characteristics of a Shaken Lattice Interferometer Incorporating Optical BEC

Shaken lattice interferometry (SLI) utilizes ultracold atoms confined to an optical lattice. Sensing of inertial forces, for example, is achieved by modulating the lattice in a way that achieves the functionality of an interferometer – effectively splitting, propagating, reflecting, again propagating and then recombining the atomic wavefunction. The protocol for shaking is derived through machine learning techniques. For general sensing applications, shaking can consist of phase modulation of the optical lattice in which we consider the short-time average of the lattice position as unchanging, and also frequency modulation, which can be viewed in terms of transport of the atomic wavefunction. This work presents a shaken lattice system in which the lattice is loaded from an optical BEC system consisting of a crossed dipole trap. We present the apparatus for both phase- and frequency-modulation of the lattice that can be used to carry out inertial sensing. The system allows for tradeoffs in sensitivity and dynamic range that can be dynamically altered. Moreover, when combined with machine learning techniques, the signal transfer function can be tailored to achieve optimum performance for a specific application scenario.