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Issue Eur. Phys. J. D Volume 53, Number 3, June II 2009 Page(s) 353 - 357 Section Laser Cooling and Quantum Gas DOI 10.1140/epjd/e2009-00150-5 Published online 16 May 2009

Eur. Phys. J. D 53, 353-357 (2009)
DOI: 10.1140/epjd/e2009-00150-5

Light-pulse atom interferometry in microgravity

G. Stern^{1, 2}, B. Battelier¹, R. Geiger¹, G. Varoquaux¹, A. Villing¹, F. Moron¹, O. Carraz³, N. Zahzam³, Y. Bidel³, W. Chaibi², F. Pereira Dos Santos², A. Bresson³, A. Landragin² and P. Bouyer<sup>1

1</sup>  Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Université Paris Sud 11, Institut d'Optique Graduate School, RD 128, 91127 Palaiseau Cedex, France
²  LNE-SYRTE, CNRS UMR 8630, UPMC, Observatoire de Paris, 61 avenue de l'Observatoire, 75014 Paris, France
³  Office National d'Étude et de Recherches Aérospatiales, Chemin de la Hunière, 91761 Palaiseau, France

philippe.bouyer@institutoptique.fr

Received 19 March 2009 / Received in final form 21 April 2009 / Published online 16 May 2009

Abstract
We describe the operation of a light pulse interferometer using cold ⁸⁷Rb atoms in reduced gravity. Using a series of two Raman transitions induced by light pulses, we have obtained Ramsey fringes in the low gravity environment achieved during parabolic flights. With our compact apparatus, we have operated in a regime which is not accessible on ground. In the much lower gravity environment and lower vibration level of a satellite, our cold atom interferometer could measure accelerations with a sensitivity orders of magnitude better than the best ground based accelerometers and close to proven spaced-based ones.

PACS
37.25.+k - Atom interferometry techniques.
03.75.Dg - Atom and neutron interferometry.

© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2009

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