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Physics World

Atom gyroscope measures tiny rotations

Charles S. Adams

Published Jun 1, 1997• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Physicists have known for many years that atoms are one of the best measuring devices around – consider, for example, the atomic clock. But it now seems that we are at the start of a new golden age of precision atomic measurements, initiated in part by the development of techniques to cool and manipulate atoms using laser light. As well as providing good time-keeping, atoms make excellent sensors of inertial forces, such as the acceleration due to gravity or the rotation of the Earth.

DOI
10.1088/2058-7058/10/6/21

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Physicists have known for many years that atoms are one of the best measuring devices around – consider, for example, the atomic clock. But it now seems that we are at the start of a new golden age of precision atomic measurements, initiated in part by the development of techniques to cool and manipulate atoms using laser light. As well as providing good time-keeping, atoms make excellent sensors of inertial forces, such as the acceleration due to gravity or the rotation of the Earth.
The remarkable success of atom coherent manipulation techniques has motivated competitive research and development in precision metrology. Matter-wave inertial sensors – accelerometers, gyrometers, gravimeters – based on these techniques are all at the forefront of their respective measurement classes. Atom inertial sensors provide nowadays about the best accelerometers and gravimeters and allow, for instance, to make the most precise monitoring of gravity or to device precise tests of the weak equivalence principle (WEP). I present here some recent advances in these fields.
Atomic quantum sensors are a major breakthrough in the technology of time and frequency standards as well as ultra-precise sensing and monitoring of accelerations and rotations. They apply a new kind of optics based on matter waves. Today, atomic clocks are the standard for time and frequency measurement at the highest precisions. Inertial and rotational sensors using atom interferometers have already shown similar potential for replacing state-of-the-art sensors in other fields. With Bose-Einstein condensates, also refered as atom lasers, the traditional experiments with atom interferometers can be greatly improved. Testing of fundamental principles, studies of atomic properties, applications as inertial sensors, and measurements of fundamental constants can benefit from the brightness (intensity and small momentum spread) of these coherent sources. In addition, the coherence properties of condensates may also allow BEC based atom interferometers to approach the Heisenberg detection limit. This corresponds to a measurement precision which scales like 1/N for N atoms and not like 1 / N as for independent measurements on N atoms.
Summary form only given. A collaboration between European research groups is developing novel atomic inertial quantum sensors based on matter-wave optics and Raman interferometry. For this purpose we are implementing a gravimeter and a gyroscope using ultra cold atoms as test masses. Inertial quantum sensors could represent a new tool for the precise detection of faint forces and tiny rotations. According to the principle of these sensors, the measured physical quantity will be converted into a frequency, which can be measured with highest accuracy. The items of atom interferometry will range from fundamental physical tests to many practical applications such as: local gravity measurements, allowing a precise underground mapping, and space navigation. In this contest the main goal is to realize modular and portable systems.
The atom interferometer was reviewed and its recent development and progress were reported.The interferometer,based on the theory of laser cooling,trapping and manipulation of atom,utilizes the atomic particles as free fall test masses to measure the experienced inertial force of the apparatus.Many tests show that the novel inertial sensors can measure the rotation and acceleration of apparatus with unprecedented sensitivity and precision,and distinguish them by counter-propagating beams of atoms.The atom interferometer can get extensive application in inertial measurement based on them due to its compactness and long-term stability.
When the Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, William D. Philipps and Steven Chu in 1997 for the development of methods for cooling and trapping atoms using lasers, this was the reward for two decades of investigations not only touching upon the fundamental aspects of the light–matter interaction, but also leading to a range of applications. On the theoretical level, the advent of this field of research in the late 1970s stimulated the development of various theoretical methods for describing the radiative forces by which light affects the motion of atoms. On the experimental level, judicious use of the radiative forces exerted by lasers made it possible to obtain a drastic reduction of atomic velocities – in other words, to cool an atomic vapour. These advances were characterized by a remarkable cross-fertilization of theoretical and experimental innovations. It was not long before applications began to appear in the field of high-resolution spectroscopy, since ultracold, i.e. slow, atoms can be observed for longer periods, and this allows greater accuracy when measuring atomic resonance frequencies than could be obtained for atoms at room temperature. Based on such resonances, the most accurate clocks in the world use laser-cooled atoms or ions. Atom interferometry is another application of laser manipulation of atoms, which can be applied to measure inertial effects, due for example to the rotation of the Earth or the motion of a vehicle, with an accuracy that already exceeds traditional methods.