Atom interferometry with phase-masked optical fields

We have investigated the use of two-photon induced spin excitation for applications to atom interferometry for lithography and rotation sensing. Our efforts have been grouped into two parts: theoretical study of schemes for nanolithography, and experimental investigation of novel schemes for rotation sensing. For lithography, we have concentrated on designing and studying theoretical models that would allow the creation of two-dimensional lithographic patterns with nanometer scale features. Specifically, We have developed a theoretical model for realizing a two-dimensional interferometer capable of producing periodic structures with a feature size of less than 10 nm. Fundamentally, this process uses the two-photon induced spin excitation for splitting atomic waves. We first extended this model to achieve a large degree of splitting via use of multiple pulses, and then showed how the process can be generalized to two orthogonal dimensions with independent controls. We have also designed a scheme for producing arbitrary two-dimensional features using atom interferometry. This process makes use of a phase mask imprinted on a laser pulse, guiding of atomic waves, and atom interferometry in order to produce any desired pattern, with features that can also be only a few nm's in size. For rotation sensing, we have realized experimentally a novel scheme that opens up a new way of controlling the interferometer contour. It may prove to be very robust for practical applications such as gravity gradiometry as well.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Tan, Ying, 1968-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Shaoul Ezekiel, Selim Shahriar and David E. Pritchard.

• Physics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8289

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/8289