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Journal of Physics Conference Series

Compact atom-interferometer gyroscope based on an expanding ball of atoms

S Riedl, Gregory W. Hoth, Bruno Pelle, John E. Kitching, Elizabeth A. Donley

Published Jun 1, 2016• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present a compact atom interferometer based on 87 Rb atoms that can simultaneously measure rotations and accelerations with a single expanding ball of atoms in a 300 cm 3 vacuum package.
DOI
10.1088/1742-6596/723/1/012058

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Abstract : In this article, we review the basic physics of an atom interferometer. We highlight the usefulness of atom interferometers for inertial navigation due to their high phase sensitivity to both linear acceleration and angular rotation, but also the drawback that a single atom interferometer cannot distinguish between the two sources of phase shifts. We describe a design for a dual atom interferometer to simultaneously measure acceleration and rotation and we describe the current status of our apparatus.
Atom interferometers use light to track the Doppler effect as ensembles of cold atoms such as 87{}^{87}87Rb travel ballistically in vacuum. These systems are used as ultrasensitive gravimeters and could also be exceptional broadband inertial sensors for vehicle navigation and guidance, but typically they are designed for a static laboratory environment. The authors present a compact atom interferometer that measures acceleration and rotation simultaneously and at a high rate, to be used in a dynamic environment for real-time integration of a vehicle's equations of motion.
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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.
We propose new multidimensional atom optics that can create coherent superpositions of atomic wave packets along three spatial directions. These tools can be used to generate light-pulse atom interferometers that are simultaneously sensitive to the three components of acceleration and rotation, and we discuss how to isolate these inertial components in a single experimental shot. We also present a new type of atomic gyroscope that is insensitive to parasitic accelerations and initial velocities. The ability to measure the full acceleration and rotation vectors with a compact, high-precision, low-bias inertial sensor could strongly impact the fields of inertial navigation, gravity gradiometry, and gyroscopy.
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