Pathfinder experiments with atom interferometry in the Cold Atom Lab onboard the International Space Station

Jason R Williams; Charles A Sackett; Holger Ahlers; David C Aveline; Patrick Boegel; Sofia Botsi; Eric Charron; Ethan R Elliott; Naceur Gaaloul; Enno Giese; Waldemar Herr; James R Kellogg; James M Kohel; Norman E Lay; Matthias Meister; Gabriel Müller; Holger Müller; Kamal Oudrhiri; Leah Phillips; Annie Pichery; Ernst M Rasel; Albert Roura; Matteo Sbroscia; Wolfgang P Schleich; Christian Schneider; Christian Schubert; Bejoy Sen; Robert J Thompson; Nicholas P Bigelow

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-50585-6

Pathfinder experiments with atom interferometry in the Cold Atom Lab onboard the International Space Station

Nat Commun. 2024 Aug 13;15(1):6414. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-50585-6.

Authors

Jason R Williams¹, Charles A Sackett², Holger Ahlers³, David C Aveline⁴, Patrick Boegel⁵, Sofia Botsi⁴, Eric Charron⁶, Ethan R Elliott⁴, Naceur Gaaloul⁷, Enno Giese⁸, Waldemar Herr³, James R Kellogg⁴, James M Kohel⁴, Norman E Lay⁴, Matthias Meister⁹, Gabriel Müller⁷, Holger Müller¹⁰, Kamal Oudrhiri⁴, Leah Phillips⁴, Annie Pichery^{6

7}, Ernst M Rasel⁷, Albert Roura⁹, Matteo Sbroscia⁴, Wolfgang P Schleich^{5

11

12

13}, Christian Schneider⁴, Christian Schubert³, Bejoy Sen¹⁴, Robert J Thompson⁴, Nicholas P Bigelow¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA. [email protected].
² Department of Physics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA. [email protected].
³ German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute for Satellite Geodesy and Inertial Sensing, 30167, Hannover, Germany.
⁴ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA.
⁵ Institut für Quantenphysik and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQST), Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
⁶ Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay, F-91405, Orsay, France.
⁷ Leibniz University Hannover, Institute of Quantum Optics, QUEST-Leibniz Research School, Hanover, Germany.
⁸ Technische Universität Darmstadt, Fachbereich Physik, Institut für Angewandte Physik, Darmstadt, Germany.
⁹ German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Quantum Technologies, 89081, Ulm, Germany.
¹⁰ Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
¹¹ Hagler Institute for Advanced Study, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
¹² Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
¹³ Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering (IQSE), Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Physics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Institute of Optics, Center for Coherence and Quantum Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 14627, USA. [email protected].

Abstract

Deployment of ultracold atom interferometers (AI) into space will capitalize on quantum advantages and the extended freefall of persistent microgravity to provide high-precision measurement capabilities for gravitational, Earth, and planetary sciences, and to enable searches for subtle forces signifying physics beyond General Relativity and the Standard Model. NASA's Cold Atom Lab (CAL) operates onboard the International Space Station as a multi-user facility for fundamental studies of ultracold atoms and to mature space-based quantum technologies. We report on pathfinding experiments utilizing ultracold ⁸⁷Rb atoms in the CAL AI. A three-pulse Mach-Zehnder interferometer was studied to understand the influence of ISS vibrations. Additionally, Ramsey shear-wave interferometry was used to manifest interference patterns in a single run that were observable for over 150 ms free-expansion time. Finally, the CAL AI was used to remotely measure the Bragg laser photon recoil as a demonstration of the first quantum sensor using matter-wave interferometry in space.