Towards Experimental Realization of Tractor Atom Interferometer

Various atom-interferometry techniques have been proposed and realized for tests of fundamental physics and precision measurements related to gravity and inertial sensing. However, they often suffer from inefficient interferometric-path closure, wave-packet dispersion, and large geometric footprint, as long as the atoms are allowed to propagate freely along unconfined directions. To solve these problems, we have proposed a tractor atom interferometer (TAI), in which atoms are confined in all directions by tractor potentials at all times. The tractor potentials tow the atoms along user-programmable paths. TAI features long interferometric times to enhance sensitivity, and flexible design conducive to a cancellation of unwanted effects. Here, we will provide an overview over several proposed acceleration and rotation sensing modes of scalar and spinor TAI. Further, experimental progress in the construction of a prototype TAI setup for background-acceleration sensing is presented. We plan to use a Bose-Einstein condensate of Rb-87 atoms loaded into translating optical lattices to perform a subsequent interferometric protocol. Updates on the experimental apparatus, the laser systems, as well as the timing controls will be provided.