CM-AMO Seminar | Measuring Gravity by Dropping Atoms

Leveraging the nature of quantum phenomena, quantum technologies are advancing rapidly in computing, communication, and sensing. Quantum inertial sensors based on light-pulse atom interferometry are powerful tools for precision measurements, navigation, geoscience, and civil engineering. By contrast to classical sensors, atom interferometers use photon momentum to coherently split and recombine matter waves. Since the laser wavelength precisely determines photon momentum, atom interferometers are highly accurate and have demonstrated unprecedented sensitivity and stability. In this talk, I will present compact and versatile atom interferometers for measuring the local gravity field and sensing multi-axis accelerations and rotations. With simplicity and sensitivity, our technology paves the way for deploying quantum sensors in field applications.

Bio: Dr. Xuejian Wu joined the Physics Department at Rutgers University-Newark in January 2021. From 2015 to 2020, he was a postdoctoral scholar in the Physics Department at the University of California, Berkeley. In January 2015, Dr. Wu received his PhD from Tsinghua University, China. Dr. Wu serves as an associate editor for Optics Express and an editorial board member for Atoms.