Guided-Wave Sagnac Atom Interferometer with Large Area and Multiple Orbits

Abstract: We describe a matter-wave Sagnac interferometer using Bose condensed atoms confined in a time-orbiting potential trap. Compared to our previous implementation [Moan et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 120403 (2020)], our new apparatus provides better thermal stability, improved optical access, and reduced trap anharmonicity. The trapping field can be adjusted to compensate for small tilts of the apparatus in gravity. These features enable operation with an effective Sagnac area of 4 mm^2 per orbit, and we observe interference with 25% visibility after two orbits at a total interrogation time of 0.6 s. Long-term measurements indicate a phase stability of 0.2 rad or better.