Demonstration of a high data rate atom interferometer accelerometer.

Hayden McGuinness, Grant W. Biedermann, Akash Rakholia

Akash Rakholia, Hayden McGuinness, Grant W. Biedermann

Akash Rakholia, Grant W. Biedermann, Hayden McGuinness

Lute Maleki, Nan Yu

Accelerometer systems that would combine the best features of both conventional (e.g., mechanical) accelerometers and atom interferometer accelerometers (AIAs) have been proposed. These systems are intended mainly for use in scientific research aboard spacecraft but may also be useful on Earth in special military, geological, and civil-engineering applications. Conventional accelerometers can be sensitive, can have high dynamic range, and can have high frequency response, but they lack accuracy and long-term stability. AIAs have low frequency response, but they offer high sensitivity, and high accuracy for measuring small accelerations. In a system according to the proposal, a conventional accelerometer would be used to perform short-term measurements of higher-frequency components of acceleration, while an AIA would be used to provide consistent calibration of, and correction of errors in, the measurements of the conventional accelerometer in the lower-frequency range over the long term. A brief description of an AIA is prerequisite to a meaningful description of a system according to the proposal. An AIA includes a retroreflector next to one end of a cell that contains a cold cloud of atoms in an ultrahigh vacuum. The atoms in the cloud are in free fall. The retroreflector is mounted on the object, the acceleration of which is to be measured. Raman laser beams are directed through the cell from the end opposite the retroreflector, then pass back through the cell after striking the retroreflector. The Raman laser beams together with the cold atoms measure the relative acceleration, through the readout of the AIA, between the cold atoms and the retroreflector.

Huibin Yao, 岳旭光, Wenju Wei +9 more

Abstract Dual atom interferometer configurations have been extensively applied in gyroscopes and gradiometers to suppress common mode noise and extract inertial signals with high precision. However, the intrinsic phase coupling between the two interferometers poses a significant challenge for simultaneous fringe locking. Here, we demonstrate a dual atom interferometric gyroscope-accelerometer, where the simultaneous fringe locking is realized by employing independent direct digital synthesizer (DDSs) signals to control the laser phase shifts of each interferometer. This dual-fringe-locking approach enables both interferometer fringes in independent phase control and simultaneous feedback stabilization while preserving the common mode noise rejection inherent to the dual configuration. It facilitates the rotation and acceleration accurately and simultaneously measured; besides, compared with the traditional full-fringe recording, the data acquisition rate and the sensitivity of rotation and acceleration are enhanced. Thus, this solution is promising for high precision quantum inertial sensing applications.

Akash Rakholia, Grant W. Biedermann, Hayden McGuinness