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Physical Review Letters

Measurement of the Earth's Gravity Gradient with an Atom Interferometer-Based Gravity Gradiometer

M. J. Snadden, J. M. McGuirk, Philippe Bouyer, Konstantinos G. Haritos, Mark A. Kasevich

Published Aug 1, 1998• 444 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report the demonstration of an atom interferometer-based gravity gradiometer. The gradiometer uses stimulated two-photon Raman transitions to measure the relative accelerations of two ensembles of laser cooled atoms. We have used this instrument to measure the gradient of the Earth's gravitational field.
DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.81.971

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We here present a high sensitivity gravity-gradiometer based on atom interferometry. In our apparatus, two clouds of laser-cooled rubidium atoms are launched in fountain configuration and interrogated by a Raman interferometry sequence to probe the gradient of gravity field. We recently implemented a high-flux atomic source and a newly designed Raman lasers system in the instrument set-up. We discuss the applications towards a precise determination of the Newtonian gravitational constant G. The long-term stability of the instrument and the signal-to-noise ratio demonstrated here open interesting perspectives for pushing the measurement precision below the 100 ppm level.
Quantum interferometer gravity gradiometer for 3D mapping is a project for developing the technology of atom interferometer-based gravity sensor in space. The atom interferometer utilizes atomic particles as free fall test masses to measure inertial forces with unprecedented sensitivity and precision. It also allows measurements of the gravity gradient tensor components for 3D mapping of subsurface mass distribution. The overall approach is based on recent advances of laser cooling and manipulation of atoms in atomic and optical physics. Atom interferometers have been demonstrated in research laboratories for gravity and gravity gradient measurements. In this approach, atoms are first laser cooled to micro-kelvin temperatures. Then they are allowed to freefall in vacuum as true drag-free test masses. During the free fall, a sequence of laser pulses is used to split and recombine the atom waves to realize the interferometric measurements. We have demonstrated atom interferometer operation in the Phase I period, and we are implementing the second generation for a complete gradiometer demonstration unit in the laboratory. Along with this development, we are developing technologies at component levels that will be more suited for realization of a space instrument. We will present an update of these developments and discuss the future directions of the quantum gravity gradiometer project.
We demonstrate a proof-of-principle of direct Earth gravity-gradient measurement with an atom interferometer-based gravity gradiometer using a single proof mass of cold 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb atoms. The atomic gradiometer is implemented in the so-called double-loop configuration, hence providing a direct gravity-gradient dependent phase shift insensitive to dc acceleration and constant rotation rate. The atom interferometer (AI) can be either operated as a gravimeter or a gradiometer by simply adding an extra Raman $\ensuremath{\pi}$ pulse. We demonstrate gravity-gradient measurements first using a vibration isolation platform and second without seismic isolation using the correlation between the AI signal and the vibration signal measured by an auxilliary classical accelerometer allowing one to bypass the absence of common-mode vibration noise rejection in a double-loop geometry. The simplicity of the experimental setup (a single atomic source and unique detection) and the immunity of the AI to rotation-induced contrast loss make it a possible candidate for onboard gravity-gradient measurements.
We report progress towards a prototype atom interferometer gravity gradiometer for Earth science studies from a satellite in low Earth orbit.The terrestrial prototype has a target sensitivity of 8 x 10(exp -2) E/Hz(sup 1/2) and consists of two atom sources running simultaneous interferometers with interrogation time T = 300 ms and 12 hk photon recoils, separated by a baseline of 2 m. By employing Raman side band cooling and magnetic lensing, we will generate atomic ensembles with N = 10(exp 6) atoms at a temperature of 3 nK. The sensitivity extrapolates to 7 x 10(exp -5) E/Hz(sup 1/2) in microgravity on board a satellite. Simulations derived from this sensitivity demonstrate a monthly time-variable gravity accuracy of 1 cm equivalent water height at 200 km resolution, yielding an improvement over GRACE by 1-2 orders of magnitude. A gravity gradiometer with this sensitivity would also benefit future planetary, lunar, and asteroidal missions.