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Free nano-object Ramsey interferometry for large quantum superpositions

Free nano-object Ramsey interferometry for large quantum superpositions
Free nano-object Ramsey interferometry for large quantum superpositions
We propose an interferometric scheme based on an untrapped nano-object subjected to gravity. The motion of the center of mass (c.m.) of the free object is coupled to its internal spin system magnetically, and a free flight scheme is developed based on coherent spin control. The wave packet of the test object, under a spin-dependent force, may then be delocalized to a macroscopic scale. A gravity induced dynamical phase (accrued solely on the spin state, and measured through a Ramsey scheme) is used to reveal the above spatially delocalized superposition of the spin-nano-object composite system that arises during our scheme. We find a remarkable immunity to the motional noise in the c.m. (initially in a thermal state with moderate cooling), and also a dynamical decoupling nature of the scheme itself. Together they secure a high visibility of the resulting Ramsey fringes. The mass independence of our scheme makes it viable for a nano-object selected from an ensemble with a high mass variability. Given these advantages, a quantum superposition with a 100 nm spatial separation for a massive object of 109 amu is achievable experimentally, providing a route to test postulated modifications of quantum theory such as continuous spontaneous localization.
1079-7114
Wan, C.
c51fa854-e6d8-4b39-aef0-14910646011b
Scala, M.
53d0a6bc-4688-4ae3-9e72-13a7c2a73ebf
Morley, G.W.
03c0b795-860e-4610-902e-92729c4242a9
Rahman, ATM. A.
e1f6e324-b46f-4a6a-b887-0b3f61475a50
Ulbricht, Hendrik
5060dd43-2dc1-47f8-9339-c1a26719527d
Bateman, James
05b8f150-3d00-49f6-bf35-3d535b773b53
Barker, P.F.
9c2263c7-207d-4d6a-8322-a1cc71215d24
Bose, Sougato
3cfeed0c-a124-4f9c-8f2e-898a6b5d3dde
Kim, Myungshik
127d76af-fb9f-48d9-82b8-bc3835880b71
Wan, C.
c51fa854-e6d8-4b39-aef0-14910646011b
Scala, M.
53d0a6bc-4688-4ae3-9e72-13a7c2a73ebf
Morley, G.W.
03c0b795-860e-4610-902e-92729c4242a9
Rahman, ATM. A.
e1f6e324-b46f-4a6a-b887-0b3f61475a50
Ulbricht, Hendrik
5060dd43-2dc1-47f8-9339-c1a26719527d
Bateman, James
05b8f150-3d00-49f6-bf35-3d535b773b53
Barker, P.F.
9c2263c7-207d-4d6a-8322-a1cc71215d24
Bose, Sougato
3cfeed0c-a124-4f9c-8f2e-898a6b5d3dde
Kim, Myungshik
127d76af-fb9f-48d9-82b8-bc3835880b71

Wan, C., Scala, M., Morley, G.W., Rahman, ATM. A., Ulbricht, Hendrik, Bateman, James, Barker, P.F., Bose, Sougato and Kim, Myungshik (2016) Free nano-object Ramsey interferometry for large quantum superpositions. Physical Review Letters, 117 (14), [143003]. (doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.143003).

Record type: Article

Abstract

We propose an interferometric scheme based on an untrapped nano-object subjected to gravity. The motion of the center of mass (c.m.) of the free object is coupled to its internal spin system magnetically, and a free flight scheme is developed based on coherent spin control. The wave packet of the test object, under a spin-dependent force, may then be delocalized to a macroscopic scale. A gravity induced dynamical phase (accrued solely on the spin state, and measured through a Ramsey scheme) is used to reveal the above spatially delocalized superposition of the spin-nano-object composite system that arises during our scheme. We find a remarkable immunity to the motional noise in the c.m. (initially in a thermal state with moderate cooling), and also a dynamical decoupling nature of the scheme itself. Together they secure a high visibility of the resulting Ramsey fringes. The mass independence of our scheme makes it viable for a nano-object selected from an ensemble with a high mass variability. Given these advantages, a quantum superposition with a 100 nm spatial separation for a massive object of 109 amu is achievable experimentally, providing a route to test postulated modifications of quantum theory such as continuous spontaneous localization.

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Free Nano-Object Ramsey...1511.02738 - Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 5 July 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 28 September 2016
Published date: 28 September 2016
Additional Information: Author Ulbricht confirms Arxiv version is accepted manuscript.

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 418118
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/418118
ISSN: 1079-7114
PURE UUID: 6dc8b231-e5dd-4c5e-89cf-9d195ec17460
ORCID for Hendrik Ulbricht: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0356-0065

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Date deposited: 22 Feb 2018 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:58

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Contributors

Author: C. Wan
Author: M. Scala
Author: G.W. Morley
Author: ATM. A. Rahman
Author: James Bateman
Author: P.F. Barker
Author: Sougato Bose
Author: Myungshik Kim

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