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arXiv:2210.15346 · Physical Review Applied

Closed-loop dual-atom-interferometer inertial sensor with continuous cold atomic beams

Zhi-Xin Meng, Pei-Qiang Yan, Shengzhe Wang, Xiao-Jie Li, Hongbo Xue, Yanying Feng

Published Mar 22, 2024• 21 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We demonstrate a closed-loop light-pulse atom-interferometer inertial sensor that can realize continuous decoupled measurements of acceleration and rotation rate. The sensor operates with double-loop atom interferometers, which share the same Raman light pulses in a spatially separated Mach-Zehnder configuration and use continuous cold atomic beams propagating in opposite directions from two ${\text{2D}}^{+}$ magneto-optical trappings. Acceleration and the rotation rate are decoupled and simultaneously measured by the sum and difference of dual-atom-interferometer signals, respectively. The sensitivities of inertial measurements are also increased to be approximately 1.86 times higher than that of a single atom interferometer. The acceleration phase shift is compensated in real time by phase locking these interferometers via the Raman laser phases from the sum-interferometer signal, and the gyroscope performance is improved. We achieve long-term stabilities of $6.1\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{\ensuremath{\mu}}\text{g}$ and 840 nrad/s for the acceleration and the rotation rate, respectively, using a short interrogation time of 0.87 ms (interference area $A=0.097\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\text{mm}}^{2}$). This work provides a building block for an atomic interferometer-based inertial measurement unit for use in field applications that require a high data rate and high stability.

DOI
10.1103/physrevapplied.21.034050

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•Aug 3, 2016•1 citation
We demonstrate a closed-loop light-pulse atom-interferometer inertial sensor that can realize continuous decoupled measurements of acceleration and rotation rate. The sensor operates with double-loop atom interferometers, which share the same Raman light pulses in a spatially separated Mach-Zehnder configuration and use continuous cold atomic beams propagating in opposite directions from two 2D+{\text{2D}}^{+}2D+ magneto-optical trappings. Acceleration and the rotation rate are decoupled and simultaneously measured by the sum and difference of dual-atom-interferometer signals, respectively. The sensitivities of inertial measurements are also increased to be approximately 1.86 times higher than that of a single atom interferometer. The acceleration phase shift is compensated in real time by phase locking these interferometers via the Raman laser phases from the sum-interferometer signal, and the gyroscope performance is improved. We achieve long-term stabilities of 6.1\ensuremath\mug6.1\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\text{\ensuremath{\mu}}\text{g}6.1\ensuremath\mug and 840 nrad/s for the acceleration and the rotation rate, respectively, using a short interrogation time of 0.87 ms (interference area A=0.097mm2A=0.097\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\text{mm}}^{2}A=0.097mm2). This work provides a building block for an atomic interferometer-based inertial measurement unit for use in field applications that require a high data rate and high stability.
Abstract In closed-loop dual-atom interferometers, the initial phase shift is a non-inertial phase induced by Raman pulses. This initial optical phase affects the measurements of both acceleration and rotation rate. In this study, we present a method to modulate the initial optical phase of light pulse atom interferometers (LPAIs). Employing this modulation method, we investigated the influence of the initial optical phase on a closed-loop dual-atom interferometer. The results reveal a better short-term sensitivity in the rotation rate measurement at an initial optical phase of 0. Our closed-loop dual-atom interferometer allows for decoupled measurements of rotation rate and acceleration. With a short interrogation time of 2T = 1.73 ms, the short-term sensitivities of the rotation rate and acceleration measurements are 2.73 × 10 − 5 ( rad / s ) / Hz and 272 μ g / Hz , respectively.
Atom interferometric inertial sensors offer exceptional sensitivity but are fundamentally constrained by the periodic phase response of matter-wave interference, which imposes an intrinsic half-fringe dynamic-range limit and prevents continuous inertial tracking. In multi-axis configurations, additional cross coupling between acceleration and rotation further complicates closed-loop operation. Here we demonstrate the first dual-channel closed-loop operation of an atomic beam interferometer, realizing decoupled feedback control of acceleration- and rotation-induced phases and overcoming the half-fringe limitation. Using continuous, transversely cooled 87^{87}87Rb atomic beams, the interferometric phases associated with rotation and acceleration are independently extracted, tracked across multiple fringes, and actively compensated through Raman frequency modulation. This closed-loop scheme enables unambiguous measurements up to ±1 ∘/s\pm1\,\mathrm{^{\circ}/s}±1∘/s in rotation and ±0.17 g\pm0.17\,\mathrm{g}±0.17g in acceleration while maintaining high fringe contrast, corresponding to nearly two orders-of-magnitude extension beyond the conventional half-fringe limit. The sensor achieves a long-term stability of 4×10−4 ∘/h4\times10^{-4}\,\mathrm{^{\circ}/h}4×10−4∘/h for rotation and 4 μg4\,\mathrm{μg}4μg for acceleration at an averaging time of 1000 s1000\,\mathrm{s}1000s. By converting the intrinsically periodic interferometric response into stabilized phase-encoded inertial channels, this work establishes a new operating regime for atomic beam interferometry and advances matter-wave sensors toward practical quantum inertial navigation under dynamic conditions.
Light-pulsed atomic interferometers provide a promising quantum-based solution for inertial navigation applications. In this paper, we present an atomic interferometric inertial sensor designed to simultaneously measure rotation rate and acceleration, through continuous sampling using dual87Rb atomic beams as matter-wave sources. We observe Raman-Ramsey and Raman-Mach-Zehnder interferences and validate the inertial sensing capability by comparing the results with a classical quartz accelerometer and an optical-fiber gyroscope. Our work can serve as a foundational element for the development of a fully quantum inertial measurement unit characterized with a high data rate and large bandwidth.
We present an interferometric inertial sensor that utilizes two counter-propagating atomic beams with transverse two-dimensional cooling. By employing three parallel and spatially aligned Raman laser beams for Doppler-sensitive Raman transitions, we successfully generate inertia-sensitive Mach-Zehnder interference fringes with an interrogation length of 2L = 54 cm. The sensor’s capability to measure rotation and acceleration simultaneously in dynamic environments is validated through comparative analysis with classical sensors under force oscillation in different directions. Additionally, we conduct experiments on a turntable to calibrate the gyroscope’s scaling factor and address nonlinearity. The angular random walk (ARW) and velocity random walk (VRW) of the sensor are 3×10−4 °/√h and 107 μg/√Hz, respectively, with the long-term stability reaching 9 × 10−4 °/h for rotation and 10 μg for acceleration at an integration time of 1000 s.
We report the operation of a cold-atom inertial sensor which continuously captures the rotation signal. Using a joint interrogation scheme, where we simultaneously prepare a cold-atom source and operate an atom interferometer (AI), enables us to eliminate the dead times. We show that such continuous operation improves the short-term sensitivity of AIs, and demonstrate a rotation sensitivity of 100 nrad/sec/sqrt[Hz] in a cold-atom gyroscope of 11 cm^{2} Sagnac area. We also demonstrate a rotation stability of 1 nrad/sec at 10^{4} sec of integration time, which represents the state of the art for atomic gyroscopes. The continuous operation of cold-atom inertial sensors will lead to large area AIs at their full sensitivity potential, determined by the quantum noise limit.
We report the first operation of a cold atom inertial sensor without dead time. Dead times in conventional cold atom interferometers originate from the preparation of a cold atom source prior to its injection in the interferometer and where information on inertial signals is lost. We use a sequence where we simultaneously prepare a cold atom source and operate a light pulse atom interferometer to circumvent the dead time limitation. Therefore the sensor continuously captures all the dynamics with respect to an inertial frame. We show that the continuous operation does not degrade the sensitivity and stability of the atom interferometer, by demonstrating a rotation sensitivity level of less than 1 nrad/s after 10 000 s of integration time. Such a sensitivity level improves previous results by more than an order of magnitude and opens applications of cold atom gyroscopes in inertial navigation and geophysics.