A continuous cold atomic beam interferometer

We demonstrate an atom interferometer that uses a laser-cooled continuous beam of Rb-87 atoms having velocities of 10-20 m/s. With spatially separated Raman beams to coherently manipulate the atomic wave packets, Mach-Zehnder interference fringes are observed at an interference distance of 2L - 19 mm. The apparatus operates within a small enclosed area of 0.07 mm(2) at a bandwidth of 190 Hz with a deduced sensitivity of 7.8 x 10(-5) rad/s/root Hz for rotations. Using a low-velocity continuous atomic source in an atom interferometer enables high sampling rates and bandwidths without sacrificing sensitivity and compactness, which are important for applications in real dynamic environments. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.