Progress towards a matter wave interferometer for inertial sensing with non-destructive monitoring of Bloch oscillations

Abstract

We report on our progress in the construction of a continuous matter-wave interferometer for inertial sensing via the non-destructive observation of Bloch oscillations. At the present stage of the experiment, around $10^5$strontium-88 atoms are cooled down to below 1$\mu${\mu}K. Pumped by lasers red-tuned with respect to the 7.6 kHz broad intercombination transition of strontium, the two counterpropagating modes of the ring cavity form a one-dimensional optical lattice in which the atoms, accelerated by gravity, will perform Bloch oscillations. The atomic motion can be monitored in real-time via its impact on the counterpropagating light fields. We present the actual state of the experiment and characterize the laser spectrometer developed to drive the atom-cavity interaction.