Mach-Zehnder interferometer for in-situ characterization of atom traps

Abstract

Manipulating cold atoms in traps is a key tool for numerous realizations of quantum simulators and quantum sensors. They require accurate modeling and characterization of the underlying trapping potentials. We introduce a technique based on the Mach-Zehnder interferometer for in-situ characterization of weakly anharmonic potentials. By simulating the interferometer in an optical dipole trap, we can accurately determine its trap frequency and upper bounds onto anharmonicity magnitudes.