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Optical and Quantum Sensing and Precision Metrology II

High-bandwidth, sub-Doppler atomic beam interferometry

Adam T. Black, Jonathan M. Kwolek

Published Mar 3, 2022• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Through the use of a high-flux rubidium beam source with sub-Doppler temperatures in three dimensions, we have demonstrated an inertially sensitive atom interferometer featuring high contrast, low noise, and continuous measurement with high bandwidth. We describe the cold-atom source and the optical design that optimizes interferometer contrast. Finally, we demonstrate useful features enabled by this architecture, such as continuous phase shear readout and rapid reversal of inertial sensitivity. This demonstration may enable future cold-atom sensors that measure with both high sensitivity and high bandwidth.

DOI
10.1117/12.2616923

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Through the use of a high-flux rubidium beam source with sub-Doppler temperatures in three dimensions, we have demonstrated an inertially sensitive atom interferometer featuring high contrast, low noise, and continuous measurement with high bandwidth. We describe the cold-atom source and the optical design that optimizes interferometer contrast. Finally, we demonstrate useful features enabled by this architecture, such as continuous phase shear readout and rapid reversal of inertial sensitivity. This demonstration may enable future cold-atom sensors that measure with both high sensitivity and high bandwidth.
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We present a compact, two-stage atomic beam source that produces a continuous, narrow, collimated, and high-flux beam of rubidium atoms with sub-Doppler temperatures in three dimensions, which features very low emission of near-resonance fluorescence along the atomic trajectory. The atom-beam source originates in a pushed two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D+2{\mathrm{D}}^{+}2D+ MOT) feeding a slightly off-axis three-dimensional moving optical-molasses stage that continuously cools and redirects the atom beam. The capture velocity of the moving optical molasses is deliberately chosen to be low, approximately 3m/s3\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{m}/\mathrm{s}3m/s, to reduce fluorescence, and the cooling light is detuned by several atomic linewidths from resonance to reduce the absorption cross section of cooling-induced fluorescence. Near-resonance light from the 2D+2{\mathrm{D}}^{+}2D+ MOT and the push beam does not propagate to the output atomic trajectory due to a ${10}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ bend in the atomic trajectory. The atomic beam emitted from the two-stage source has a flux up to $1.6(3)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{9}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{atoms}/\mathrm{s}$, with an optimized temperature of $15.0(2)\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{K}$. We employ continuous Raman-Ramsey interference measurements at the atom-beam output to study the sources of decoherence in the presence of continuous cooling, and demonstrate that the atom-beam source effectively preserves high fringe contrast even during cooling. This cold-atom-beam source is appropriate for use in atom interferometers and clocks, where continuous operation eliminates dead time, the slow atom-beam velocity (6--16 m/s) improves sensitivity, the narrow 3D velocity distribution improves fringe contrast, and the low reabsorption of scattered light mitigates decoherence caused by the continuous cooling process.
We study decoherence in continuously cooled atom interferometers by performing Raman-Ramsey fringe measurements in a continuous beam of 3D-sub-Doppler-cooled rubidium atoms. The atom beam is produced by a two-stage cold atom source that is designed to mitigate the decoherence of atomic interference caused by cooling induced fluorescence. The atom beam source produces a collimated beam of over 109 atoms/s that is cooled by polarization gradient cooling to temperatures as low as 14 µK. We infer the potential performance of this atom beam source in a cold-atom gyroscope and use numerical models of motion in 6 degrees of freedom to study the expected performance on dynamic platforms.
The use of atom interferometers in inertial systems holds the promise of improvement of several orders of magnitude in sensitivity over sensors using current technology such as micro-electro-mechanical (MEMS) devices or ring laser gyroscopes (RLGs). This paper describes the construction and characterization of an atomic interferometry system for eventual use in a dual-atom-beam accelerometer/gyroscope sensor. In contrast with current state-of-the-art atomic sensors which use pulsed cold atom sources and pulsed laser beams, the investigated apparatus relies purely on continuous atomic and laser beams. These differences can result in a sensor with reduced complexity, a smaller physical footprint, and reduced power consumption. However, these differences also introduce challenges resulting from laser and atomic beam divergences and from velocity averaging due to both longitudinal and transverse velocity spreads. In this work, we characterize our rubidium-based atom beam system and show that Ramsey-style interference can still be observed. The implications for future research are also outlined and discussed.
We report on interleaved operation of a cold-atom inertial sensor, where three atomic clouds are simultaneously probed in an atom interferometer featuring 4 Hz sampling rate and interrogation time of 801 ms. Interleaving improves the inertial sensitivity by efficiently averaging vibration noise and allows us to perform dynamic rotation measurements in a so far unexplored range. We demonstrate sensitivity of 30 nrad.s-1·Hz-1/2and reach the long-term stability of 3·10-10rads-1, which competes with the best stability levels obtained with fiber-optic gyroscopes. Our work validated interleaving as a key concept for future atom-interferometry sensors probing time-varying signals, as in on-board navigation and gravity gradiometry, searches for dark matter, or gravitational wave detection.