A scanning cavity for large area coherent coupling in atom interferometry

Abstract

Optical cavities can enhance atom-light coupling in atom interferometry, but free-fall geometries require large transverse modes. Marginally stable resonators provide such modes, yet aberrations and alignment imperfections turn their near-degenerate response into detuning-dependent transverse ring modes, strongly limiting the usable interaction volume under static excitation. Here, we turn this limitation into a resource. By chirping the interrogation frequency across the cavity resonance while dynamically shaping the input amplitude, we map laser detuning onto the transverse position and scan the cavity-enhanced coupling across the atomic cloud. In a cavity-enhanced Bragg diffraction experiment with $^{87}$Rb atoms, this produces a nearly uniform effective interaction region of about 15 mm and increases the transfer efficiency from about 5% to 28%. We also demonstrate phase-coherent operation of a three-pulse atom interferometer using chirped cavity-enhanced Bragg pulses. These results establish scanning-cavity interrogation as a route to large-area, cavity-enhanced atom interferometry.