High Resolution Gravity Sensors Based On Atom Interferometry

This thesis presents atom interferometers based on the matter wave characteristics of atoms, and experiments involving atom interferometers in measurement of the gravitational field. Two schematics of atom interferometers are depicted in this thesis, implemented by Institute of Optics at Zhejiang University and SYRTE at Paris Observatory, respectively. Both experiments utilize stimulated Raman transitions in manipulating the atoms' internal and external states. The Zhejiang University instrument, which uses free-falling atoms in interferometry, measures the absolute local gravity with resolution around 10-9g. The Paris Observatory experiment makes use of atoms trapped in a 1-dimensional optical lattice in realizing the interferometer, by manipulating the relative movements of the atoms between separate lattice sites. When the atoms are trapped in the lattice sites close to an arbitrary surface, the interferometer measures the interaction between atoms and the surface, leading to a high-precision verification of the short range interactions, e.g. the Casimir-Polder Force.