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arXiv:1812.00106

Multi-axis atom interferometer gyroscope with a single source of atoms

Yun-Jhih Chen, Azure Hansen, Gregory W. Hoth, Eugene N. Ivanov, Bruno Pelle, John E. Kitching, Elizabeth A. Donley

Published Dec 1, 2018• 9 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Using the technique of point source atom interferometry, we characterize the sensitivity of a multi-axis gyroscope based on free-space Raman interrogation of a single source of cold atoms in a glass vacuum cell. The instrument simultaneously measures the acceleration in the direction of the Raman laser beams and the component of the rotation vector in the plane perpendicular to that direction. We characterize the sensitivities for the magnitude and direction of the rotation vector measurement, which are 0.033 $^{\circ}/\mathrm{s}$ and 0.27 $^{\circ}$ with one second averaging time, respectively. The sensitivity could be improved by increasing the Raman interrogation time, allowing the cold-atom cloud to expand further, correcting the fluctuations in the initial cloud shape, and reducing sources of technical noise. The unique ability of the PSI technique to measure the rotation vector in a plane may permit applications of atom interferometry such as tracking the precession of a rotation vector and gyrocompassing.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1812.00106

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Using the technique of point source atom interferometry, we characterize the sensitivity of a multi-axis gyroscope based on free-space Raman interrogation of a single source of cold atoms in a glass vacuum cell. The instrument simultaneously measures the acceleration in the direction of the Raman laser beams and the component of the rotation vector in the plane perpendicular to that direction. We characterize the sensitivities for the magnitude and direction of the rotation vector measurement, which are 0.033 ∘/s^{\circ}/\mathrm{s}∘/s and 0.27 ∘^{\circ}∘ with one second averaging time, respectively. The sensitivity could be improved by increasing the Raman interrogation time, allowing the cold-atom cloud to expand further, correcting the fluctuations in the initial cloud shape, and reducing sources of technical noise. The unique ability of the PSI technique to measure the rotation vector in a plane may permit applications of atom interferometry such as tracking the precession of a rotation vector and gyrocompassing.
Point source atom interferometry, employing optical Raman pulses and a cold atom source, enables measurements of rotation and acceleration in a compact experimental package. This system is uniquely sensitive to rotations in the plane perpendicular to the Raman beamline. Here we discuss our experiment’s sensitivity, stability, systematic errors, and other performance-limiting factors both fundamentaland technical. Our current measurements for the sensitivity to the magnitude and direction of the rotation vector are 0.6 mrad/s and 5 mrad, respectively.
A point source atom interferometer (PSI) is a device where atoms are split and recombined by applying a temporal sequence of Raman pulses during the expansion of a cloud of cold atoms behaving approximately as a point source. Unlike a conventional light pulse atom interferometer, the PSI can produce a signal that corresponds to multi-axis rotation only, independent of acceleration. In addition, it can be used to measure acceleration along one direction, independent of rotation. Here, we describe a modified PSI that can be used to measure multi-axis rotation and multi-axis acceleration. Specifically, this type of PSI can be used to measure two-axes rotation around the directions perpendicular to the light pulses, as well as the acceleration in all three directions, with only one pair of Raman beams. Using two pairs of Raman beams in orthogonal directions sequentially, such a scheme would enable the realization of a complete atom interferometric inertial measurement unit.
The use of matter-wave interferometry to detect inertial forces is already a powerful tool in precision measurement, but extending it beyond the lab to navigation applications requires optimization for compact setups. Here researchers characterize point-source atom interferometry (PSI) in a centimeter-scale cell, using an expanding cloud of cold atoms and an optical Raman interaction for simultaneous measurement of the system's acceleration along the Raman laser beams plus its rotation vector projected into the plane perpendicular to the beams. The sensitivity measurements presented here inform the further development of quantum inertial sensing that balances size and performance.
We have developed an atom interferometer providing a full inertial base. This device uses two counterpropagating cold-atom clouds that are launched in strongly curved parabolic trajectories. Three single Raman beam pairs, pulsed in time, are successively applied in three orthogonal directions leading to the measurement of the three axis of rotation and acceleration. In this purpose, we introduce a new atom gyroscope using a butterfly geometry. We discuss the present sensitivity and the possible improvements.
A point source interferometer (PSI) is a device where atoms are split and recombined by applying a temporal sequence of Raman pulses during the expansion of a cloud of cold atoms behaving approximately as a point source. The PSI can work as a sensitive multi-axes gyroscope that can automatically filter out the signal from accelerations. The phase shift arising from the rotations is proportional to the momentum transferred to each atom from the Raman pulses. Therefore, by increasing the momentum transfer, it should be possible to enhance the sensitivity of the PSI. Here, we investigate the degree of enhancement in sensitivity that could be achieved by augmenting the PSI with large momentum transfer (LMT) employing a sequence of many Raman pulses with alternating directions. We analyze how factors such as Doppler detuning, spontaneous emission, and the finite initial size of the atomic cloud compromise the advantage of LMT and how to find the optimal momentum transfer under these limitations, with both the semi-classical model and a model under which the motion of the center of mass of each atom is described quantum mechanically. We identify a set of realistic parameters for which LMT can improve the PSI by a factor of nearly 40.
We present a precision atom interferometry gyroscope with a Sagnac area of 6.0 cm 2 . To drive the cold atom interferometry gyroscope, we utilize two sets of Raman beams with a pulse sequence of π /2- π - π - π /2. We present a procedure for aligning the two sets of Raman beams at the microradian level by making use of the atom interferometer itself in different configurations. Additionally, we measured the atomic cloud trajectory and implemented a spatial symmetry alignment for the atom interferometer. With these improvements, we construct a sensitive atom gyroscope with a stability of 1 nrad/s at an integration time of 10000 s. We analyzed the influence of Raman beams and the limitations of the system, and present the technical limits to the sensitivity and long-term stability. Finally, we point out the primary sources of noise in the atom interferometry gyroscope, clearing the way for the construction of further large-area atom gyroscopes.