To reduce trailing noises mixed in ultrasonic echoes during ultrasonic wave propagation in a buffer rod, the influence of the rod’s boundary shape and dimension on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was analyzed using a simulation method. Novel buffer rods with complex structures and shapes based on a cylinder or cone reference surface were proposed. The novel rods were found to be more effective in obtaining signals with high SNR than the cylinder or cone rods currently in use. Simulation results showed that the rod proposed in this paper exhibited better performance in a given installation space compared with the cylinder or cone rods.

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The precision of the weak equivalence principle (WEP) test using atom interferometers (AIs) is expected to be extremely high in microgravity environment. The microgravity scientific laboratory cabinet (MSLC) in the China Space Station (CSS) can provide a higher-level microgravity than the CSS itself, which provides a good experimental environment for scientific experiments that require high microgravity. We designed and realized a payload of a dual-species cold rubidium atom interferometer. The payload is highly integrated and has a size of $$460\,{\rm{mm}}\times 330\,{\rm{mm}}\times 260\,{\rm{mm}}$$ 460 mm × 330 mm × 260 mm . It will be installed in the MSLC to carry out high-precision WEP test experiment. In this article, we introduce the constraints and guidelines of the payload design, the compositions and functions of the scientific payload, the expected test precision in space, and some results of the ground test experiments.

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