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Inertial noise post-correction in atom interferometers measuring the local gravitational acceleration

L. Richardson

Published Jan 1, 2019• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Exploiting the quantum nature of atoms through the use of matter-wave interferometry has lead to the development of devices sensitive to, among other things, the local gravitational acceleration. Measurements of the gravitational acceleration have applications ranging from detection of subterranean density di erences to observation of general relativistic e ects. Light-pulse atom interferometers provide an absolute measurement of the gravitational acceleration with a sensitivity competitive and even surpassing the performance of classical sensors. The advantages of atom interferometers as inertial measurement devices have lead to e orts in increasing sensitivity and decreasing the physical dimensions of the measurement head, allowing them to be more transportable for eld use applications. With increasing sensitivity, it becomes more critical to address the noise source limitations a ecting the measurement, speci cally the in uence of ground motion on measurements. Vibrations coupling into the inertial reference add a time varying phase shift uncommon to the paths of the interferometer. This limitation is especially pertinent to transportable atom gravimeters measuring in the eld where inertial noise is typically far higher than in relatively quiet laboratory environments. Within this work, implementation and demonstration of inertial noise post-correction in an atom interferometer is shown within low inertial noise environments and simulated strong motion environments. For a high pulse separation time atom interferometer (T = 78 ms) post-correction yielded an increase in the short term stability from 4.4 x 10 ̄6 m/s2/√Hz to 9.2 x 10 ̄7 m/s2/√Hz. This method was reproduced with a di erent motion sensor to perform post-correction in a high motion environment, generated by introducing additional movement onto the inertial reference. By performing post-correction in the high motion environment, we were able to show an increase of short term stability of γ = 73.8. Current limitations to the post-correction resulted from self noise resolution limitations and spectral resolutions limitations. Beyond corrections with commercially available sensors, this work demonstrates the rst post-correction with a next generation compact optomechanical sensor. This optomechanical sensor is formed from monolithic fused silica capable of sensitively measuring accelerations of a harmonic oscillator test mass, which can be read-out optically. This novel motion sensor has the advantage to any previously shown sensor used for post-correction in the capacity that it is vacuum compatible, insensitive to magnetic elds and has the potential to be implemented directly into the inertial reference. In this work, inertial noise post-correction in a simulated high motion environment is shown, correcting from a short term stability of 8 x 10 ̄3 m/s2/√Hz to 5 x 10 ̄4 m/s2/√Hz. Post-correction was limited by the parasitic cavities within the ber required for optical read-out of the harmonic oscillator displacement and intensity noise uctuations of the source laser. The results shown within this work are congruent with previous works on atom chip gravimeters, both of which help move towards portable hand-held gravimeter measurement heads capable of sensitive inertial measurement.

DOI
10.15488/4434

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Exploiting the quantum nature of atoms through the use of matter-wave interferometry has lead to the development of devices sensitive to, among other things, the local gravitational acceleration. Measurements of the gravitational acceleration have applications ranging from detection of subterranean density di erences to observation of general relativistic e ects. Light-pulse atom interferometers provide an absolute measurement of the gravitational acceleration with a sensitivity competitive and even surpassing the performance of classical sensors. The advantages of atom interferometers as inertial measurement devices have lead to e orts in increasing sensitivity and decreasing the physical dimensions of the measurement head, allowing them to be more transportable for eld use applications. With increasing sensitivity, it becomes more critical to address the noise source limitations a ecting the measurement, speci cally the in uence of ground motion on measurements. Vibrations coupling into the inertial reference add a time varying phase shift uncommon to the paths of the interferometer. This limitation is especially pertinent to transportable atom gravimeters measuring in the eld where inertial noise is typically far higher than in relatively quiet laboratory environments. Within this work, implementation and demonstration of inertial noise post-correction in an atom interferometer is shown within low inertial noise environments and simulated strong motion environments. For a high pulse separation time atom interferometer (T = 78 ms) post-correction yielded an increase in the short term stability from 4.4 x 10 ̄6 m/s2/√Hz to 9.2 x 10 ̄7 m/s2/√Hz. This method was reproduced with a di erent motion sensor to perform post-correction in a high motion environment, generated by introducing additional movement onto the inertial reference. By performing post-correction in the high motion environment, we were able to show an increase of short term stability of γ = 73.8. Current limitations to the post-correction resulted from self noise resolution limitations and spectral resolutions limitations. Beyond corrections with commercially available sensors, this work demonstrates the rst post-correction with a next generation compact optomechanical sensor. This optomechanical sensor is formed from monolithic fused silica capable of sensitively measuring accelerations of a harmonic oscillator test mass, which can be read-out optically. This novel motion sensor has the advantage to any previously shown sensor used for post-correction in the capacity that it is vacuum compatible, insensitive to magnetic elds and has the potential to be implemented directly into the inertial reference. In this work, inertial noise post-correction in a simulated high motion environment is shown, correcting from a short term stability of 8 x 10 ̄3 m/s2/√Hz to 5 x 10 ̄4 m/s2/√Hz. Post-correction was limited by the parasitic cavities within the ber required for optical read-out of the harmonic oscillator displacement and intensity noise uctuations of the source laser. The results shown within this work are congruent with previous works on atom chip gravimeters, both of which help move towards portable hand-held gravimeter measurement heads capable of sensitive inertial measurement.
Matter-wave interferometry has enabled high precision measurements of inertial forces such as gravity and the Coriolis force. This is facilitated by the long-term stability of the physical properties of atoms and lasers. Recent experiments have demonstrated the operation of portable, robust sensors using atom interferometry. This has potential uses in the context of inertial navigation, where conventional devices suffer from long-term drifts due to bias instability. Furthermore, determining position via dead reckoning requires minimisation of dead time between measurements. This thesis presents the development of an atom interferometer for measuring horizontal accelerations. In this configuration, gravity induces motion across the laser wavefront, which constrains the tolerable level of wavefront distortions. Effective control of the experiment allows the interferometer to be operated at a rate of 4 Hz. A cold ensemble of 10^6 atoms in the same internal state is prepared in 150 ms. The interferometer operates using a sequence of three laser pulses separated by T= 25 ms to achieve sensitivity to horizontal accelerations. Combining this with a classical accelerometer provides a method of correcting for vibration-induced noise, as well as determining the interferometer fringe order. After an integration time of 40 s, the sensitivity to horizontal accelerations is better than 3^-6 m s^-2. Effects which limit this sensitivity are discussed.
Quantum sensing using atom interferometry possesses immense potential for application in gravimetry, inertial navigation and for gravitational wave detection, apart from carrying out tests of fundamental physics. Atom interferometry can be used to perform absolute inertial measurements with unprecedented long term stability, unlike classical sensors which are prone to drift and incur calibration errors. However, atom interferometers seldom achieve their fundamental sensitivity due to the coupling of ambient vibrations. It is the dominant noise source that not only impairs performance but also affects its operability. Ideal compensation of the effects due to vibration noise using a versatile accelerometer, while concurrently enabling miniaturized atom interferometer setups has not been pioneered. Such a compact hybrid quantum sensor will enable reliable operation with an enhanced performance in field applications, paving the way for robust atom interferometry beyond laboratory conditions. A novel optomechanical resonator has been designed, developed and successfully hybridized with an atom interferometer to suppress the effects of vibration noise, and the results are presented in this thesis. The optomechanical resonator’s inertial test mass is simultaneously used to create a continuous intracavity optical lattice to sense its displacement, and a pulsed optical lattice to manipulate the atoms. For the first time, a broadband accelerometer is seamlessly hybridized with an atom interferometer via mechanical resonator mediated coupling of the optical lattices to measure acceleration. This enables elimination of vibration induced measurement ambiguity in our atom interferometer with a well defined mechanical transfer function. Vibration noise correlation is demonstrated up to our prototype atom interferometer’s most sensitive operating mode of T = 6 ms using double Bragg diffraction, ultimately limited by its technical noise. The optomechanical resonator measures acceleration with a sensitivity down to 1.1×10−6 ms−2/ √Hz corresponding to a displacement sensitivity of 8.6 × 10−15 m/ √Hz. Substantial 1/f noise suppression due to the developed optical readout scheme enables a measurement bandwidth spanning from sub-hertz frequencies up to several kilohertz. Multiple versions of the optomechanical resonator with different characteristics were developed and hybridized with our atom interferometer. This paves the way for developing tailored optomechanical resonators for specific inertial sensing applications.
Atom interferometers are among the most sensitive inertial sensors, yet deployment outside the laboratory is limited by vibration noise, conventionally mitigated by external sensors or bulky isolation. Here we demonstrate a hybrid inertial sensor which fuses an optomechanical resonator and an atom interferometer by exploiting the resonator's test mass as the interferometer's reference mirror. This allows for better correlation than with two separate sensors, whose unknown transfer function is replaced by the static response of one mechanical element. The resonator achieves a displacement sensitivity of 8.6⋅10−158.6\cdot 10^{-15}8.6⋅10−15 m/Hz\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}Hz​ with suppressed 1/f noise and yields a minimum acceleration sensitivity of 1.1⋅10−61.1\cdot10^{-6}1.1⋅10−6 m/s2^22/Hz\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}Hz​ over a bandwidth extending from sub-Hertz to 2.5 kHz. Under ambient laboratory conditions the integrated system removes vibration-induced phase ambiguity for accelerations up to 50⋅10−350\cdot 10^{-3}50⋅10−3 m/s2^22 and reaches the interferometer's technical noise limit, which a commercial force-balance accelerometer does not. Because the resonance-tracking readout is largely independent of the mechanical design, the architecture transfers directly to other precision sensing platforms.
Inertial sensors based on cold atoms and light-pulse interferometry exhibit state-of-the-art sensitivity and ultra-low measurement bias that could revolutionize a variety of fields including geophysics and seismology, gravitational wave detection and fundamental tests of gravity, and inertial navigation. In the latter case, cold-atom interferometers are widely considered as breakthrough technology for future autonomous INSs. Nowadays, absolute quantum inertial sensors are available as commercial and field-deployable devices. Yet, their current size and complexity has not yet reached a technology readiness level compatible with mobile applications or plug-and-play operation by non-specialists. These systems are in desperate need of further development and miniaturization. We will present progress beyond these first experiments while exploring new methods relying on 3D matter-wave manipulation that can lead to interferometer geometries that are simultaneously sensitive to accelerations and rotations in 3D and can discern their vector components within a single measurement. These novel innovations produce additional sensitivity to rotations and gravity gradients which has not yet been exploited experimentally and could be a game changing innovation for future atomic sensors. 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.
Inertial sensors relying on atom interferometry offer a breakthrough advance in a variety of applications, such as inertial navigation, gravimetry or ground- and space-based tests of fundamental physics. These instruments require a quiet environment to reach their performance and using them outside the laboratory remains a challenge. Here we report the first operation of an airborne matter-wave accelerometer set up aboard a 0g plane and operating during the standard gravity (1g) and microgravity (0g) phases of the flight. At 1g, the sensor can detect inertial effects more than 300 times weaker than the typical acceleration fluctuations of the aircraft. We describe the improvement of the interferometer sensitivity in 0g, which reaches 2 x 10-4 ms-2 / √Hz with our current setup. We finally discuss the extension of our method to airborne and spaceborne tests of the Universality of free fall with matter waves. Inertial sensors using atom interferometry have applications in geophysics, navigation- and space-based tests of fundamental physics. Here, the first operation of an atom accelerometer during parabolic flights is reported, demonstrating high-resolution measurements at both 1g and 0g.
Atom interferometers are quantum mechanical devices sensitive to gravitational and inertial forces, with applications in fundamental physics and inertial sensing in the field. Their performance is currently limited by the interrogation time available to freely falling atoms in Earth’s gravitational field, as well as noise due to mechanical and acoustic vibrations. Our experiment probes gravitational potentials by holding, rather than dropping, atoms. We realize an interrogation time of 20 seconds by suspending the spatially separated atomic wave packets in an optical lattice. This record coherence is enabled by the smooth lattice wave fronts, which are mode-filtered by an optical cavity. This trapped geometry suppresses phase variance due to vibrations by three to four orders of magnitude, overcoming the dominant noise source in atom-interferometric gravimeters. The later part of the talk describes recent progress in characterizing and reducing dephasing of the interferometer. An upgraded optical lattice interferometer experiment is currently being commissioned, with the goal of increased sensitivity to gravity.