We demonstrate an injection-locked 399 nm laser system with up to 1 W output power and a locked power fraction of 0.57. The system consists of a high power, multimode diode laser that is seeded by 5 mW from a single-mode external cavity diode laser. The locked high-power laser inherits the frequency agility and linewidth of the seed laser with 3.9 kHz broadening. With active stabilization, the injection lock can be maintained for more than a day. We verify the utility of this system for atomic physics by performing spectroscopy of an ytterbium atomic beam. 

We analyze the sensitivity of a laboratory-scale ytterbium atom interferometer to scalar, vector, and axion dark matter signals. A frequency ratio measurement between two transitions in Yb-171 enables a search for variations of the fine-structure constant that could surpass existing limits by a factor of 100 in the mass range 10^−22 eV to 10^−16 eV. Differential accelerometry between Yb isotopes yields projected sensitivities to scalar and vector dark matter couplings that are stronger than the limits set by the MICROSCOPE equivalence principle test, and an analogous measurement in the MAGIS-100 long-baseline interferometer would be more sensitive than previous bounds by factors of 10 or more. A search for anomalous spin torque in MAGIS-100 is projected to reach similar sensitivity to atomic magnetometry experiments. We discuss strategies for mitigating the main systematic effects in each measurement. These results indicate that improved dark matter searches with Yb atom interferometry are technically feasible.

In a uniform gravitational field, classical test objects fall universally. Any reference object or observer will fall in the same universal manner. Therefore, a uniform gravitational field cannot create dynamics between observers and classical test objects. The influence of a uniform gravitational field on matter waves and clocks, however, is described inconsistently throughout research and education. To illustrate, we discuss the behavior of a matter-wave interferometer and a clock redshift experiment in a uniform gravitational field. As a consistent formulation of the equivalence principle implies, a uniform gravitational field has no observable influence on these systems and is physically equivalent to the absence of gravity.

Experiments are beginning to probe the interaction of quantum particles with gravitational fields beyond the uniform-field regime. In nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, the gravitational field in such experiments can be written as a superposition state. We empirically demonstrate that semiclassical theories of gravity can avoid gravitational superposition states only by decoupling the gravitational field energy from the quantum particle’s time evolution. Furthermore, such theories must specify a preferred quantum reference frame in which the equations of motion are valid. To the extent that these properties are theoretically implausible, recent experiments provide indirect evidence that gravity has quantum features. Proposed experiments with superposed gravitational sources would provide even stronger evidence that gravity is nonclassical. 

Gravity curves space and time. This can lead to proper time differences between freely falling, nonlocal trajectories. A spatial superposition of a massive particle is predicted to be sensitive to this effect. We measure the gravitational phase shift induced in a matter-wave interferometer by a kilogram-scale source mass close to one of the wave packets. Deflections of each interferometer arm due to the source mass are independently measured. The phase shift deviates from the deflection-induced phase contribution, as predicted by quantum mechanics. In addition, the observed scaling of the phase shift is consistent with Heisenberg’s error-disturbance relation. These results show that gravity creates Aharonov-Bohm phase shifts analogous to those produced by electromagnetic interactions.

Many different formalisms exist for computing the phase of a matter-wave interferometer. However, it can be challenging to develop physical intuition about what a particular interferometer is actually measuring or about whether a given classical measurement provides equivalent information. Here, we investigate the physical content of the interferometer phase through a series of thought experiments. In low-order potentials, a matter-wave interferometer with a single internal state provides the same information as a sum of position measurements of a classical test object. In high-order potentials, the interferometer phase becomes decoupled from the motion of the interferometer arms, and the phase contains information that cannot be obtained by any set of position measurements on the interferometer trajectory. This phase shift in a high-order potential fundamentally distinguishes matter-wave interferometers from classical measuring devices.

We demonstrate a narrow-linewidth 780 nm laser system with up to 40W power and a frequency modulation bandwidth of 230 MHz. Efficient overlap on nonlinear optical elements combines two pairs of phase-locked frequency components into a single beam. Serrodyne modulation with a high-quality sawtooth waveform is used to perform frequency shifts with >96.5% efficiency over tens of megahertz. This system enables next-generation atom interferometry by delivering simultaneous, Stark-shift-compensated dual beam splitters while minimizing spontaneous emission.

We use a dual-species atom interferometer with 2 s of free-fall time to measure the relative acceleration between Rb-85 and Rb-87 wave packets in the Earth’s gravitational field. Systematic errors arising from kinematic differences between the isotopes are suppressed by calibrating the angles and frequencies of the interferometry beams. We find an Eötvös parameter of 𝜂=[1.6±1.8⁢(stat)±3.4⁢(syst)]×10^−12, consistent with zero violation of the equivalence principle. With a resolution of up to 1.4×10^−11  g per shot, we demonstrate a sensitivity to 𝜂 of 5.4×10^−11/√Hz.

Light-pulse atom interferometry enables the precise measurement of inertial forces on atoms in free fall. The acceleration sensitivity of an atom interferometer increases with the time between interferometer pulses and the momentum splitting between interferometer arms. A long-time, large-momentum-transfer atom interferometer in a 10 m atomic fountain has been used to observe the tidal phase shift associated with a quantum system evolving in curved spacetime. This apparatus is currently performing a test of the equivalence principle by comparing the gravitational acceleration of Rb-85 and Rb-87. We demonstrate a technique that reduces systematic errors associated with initial kinematic offsets to one part in 10^13, paving the way for an atomic test of the equivalence principle at an accuracy comparable with state-of-the-art classical tests.

In an ideal test of the equivalence principle, the test masses fall in a common inertial frame. A real experiment is affected by gravity gradients, which introduce systematic errors by coupling to initial kinematic differences between the test masses. Here we demonstrate a method that reduces the sensitivity of a dual-species atom interferometer to initial kinematics by using a frequency shift of the mirror pulse to create an effective inertial frame for both atomic species. Using this method, we suppress the gravity-gradient-induced dependence of the differential phase on initial kinematic differences by 2 orders of magnitude and precisely measure these differences. We realize a relative precision of Δ⁢𝑔/𝑔≈6×10^−11 per shot, which improves on the best previous result for a dual-species atom interferometer by more than 3 orders of magnitude. By reducing gravity gradient systematic errors to one part in 1⁢013, these results pave the way for an atomic test of the equivalence principle at an accuracy comparable with state-of-the-art classical tests.

Spacetime curvature induces tidal forces on the wave function of a single quantum system. Using a dual light-pulse atom interferometer, we measure a phase shift associated with such tidal forces. The macroscopic spatial superposition state in each interferometer (extending over 16 cm) acts as a nonlocal probe of the spacetime manifold. Additionally, we utilize the dual atom interferometer as a gradiometer for precise gravitational measurements.

Experimental searches for the electron electric-dipole moment (EDM) probe new physics beyond the standard model. The current best EDM limit was set by the ACME Collaboration [Science 343, 269 (2014)], constraining time-reversal symmetry (𝑇) violating physics at the TeV energy scale. ACME used optical pumping to prepare a coherent superposition of ThO 𝐻3⁢Δ1 states that have aligned electron spins. Spin precession due to the molecule's internal electric field was measured to extract the EDM. We report here on an improved method for preparing this spin-aligned state of the electron by using stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP). We demonstrate a transfer efficiency of 75%±5%, representing a significant gain in signal for a next-generation EDM experiment. We discuss the particularities of implementing STIRAP in systems such as ours, where molecular ensembles with large phase-space distributions are transferred via weak molecular transitions with limited laser power and limited optical access.

The quantum superposition principle allows massive particles to be delocalized over distant positions. Though quantum mechanics has proved adept at describing the microscopic world, quantum superposition runs counter to intuitive conceptions of reality and locality when extended to the macroscopic scale1, as exemplified by the thought experiment of Schrödinger’s cat. Matter-wave interferometers, which split and recombine wave packets in order to observe interference, provide a way to probe the superposition principle on macroscopic scales4 and explore the transition to classical physics. In such experiments, large wave-packet separation is impeded by the need for long interaction times and large momentum beam splitters, which cause susceptibility to dephasing and decoherence. Here we use light-pulse atom interferometry to realize quantum interference with wave packets separated by up to 54 centimetres on a timescale of 1 second. These results push quantum superposition into a new macroscopic regime, demonstrating that quantum superposition remains possible at the distances and timescales of everyday life. The sub-nanokelvin temperatures of the atoms and a compensation of transverse optical forces enable a large separation while maintaining an interference contrast of 28 per cent. In addition to testing the superposition principle in a new regime, large quantum superposition states are vital to exploring gravity with atom interferometers in greater detail. We anticipate that these states could be used to increase sensitivity in tests of the equivalence principle, measure the gravitational Aharonov–Bohm effect, and eventually detect gravitational waves and phase shifts associated with general relativity.

Using a matter wave lens and a long time of flight, we cool an ensemble of 87Rb atoms in two dimensions to an effective temperature of less than 5⁢0^(+50)_(−30)  pK. A short pulse of red-detuned light generates an optical dipole force that collimates the ensemble. We also report a three-dimensional magnetic lens that substantially reduces the chemical potential of evaporatively cooled ensembles with a high atom number. By observing such low temperatures, we set limits on proposed modifications to quantum mechanics in the macroscopic regime. These cooling techniques yield bright, collimated sources for precision atom interferometry.