Continuous Cold-Atom Inertial Sensor with1  nrad/secRotation Stability

Abstract

We report the operation of a cold-atom inertial sensor which continuously captures the rotation signal. Using a joint interrogation scheme, where we simultaneously prepare a cold-atom source and operate an atom interferometer (AI), enables us to eliminate the dead times. We show that such continuous operation improves the short-term sensitivity of AIs, and demonstrate a rotation sensitivity of 100 nrad/sec/sqrt[Hz] in a cold-atom gyroscope of 11 cm^{2} Sagnac area. We also demonstrate a rotation stability of 1 nrad/sec at 10^{4} sec of integration time, which represents the state of the art for atomic gyroscopes. The continuous operation of cold-atom inertial sensors will lead to large area AIs at their full sensitivity potential, determined by the quantum noise limit.

Experimental study of the role of trap symmetry in an atom-chip interferometer above the Bose–Einstein condensation threshold

“…To get a more quantitative criterion, we compare our experimental values of these parameters, for various densities, to the numbers from [32] where ISRE was observed (figure 5). As can be seen in this figure, there are some situations (for example B 0 =3.279 G and n 2 10 12 >´cm 3 ) where all three relevant quantities are smaller in our case than in [32]. Yet, we do not see ISRE in these cases.…”

“…Atom interferometers [1,2] have demonstrated excellent performance in measuring gravity [3][4][5][6], gravity gradients [7][8][9] and rotations [10][11][12], using atoms in ballistic flight. In spite of being less well developed, trapped atom interferometers, for example using atom chips, [13,14], would render the interrogation time independent of the atom's flight, permitting miniaturization and possibly longer measurement times.…”

Rotation sensing with trapped ions

“…Free-flight matter-wave interferometers have demonstrated state of the art short term sensitivities of  =6 12 for laser-cooled atoms [21], which can provide better long-term stability than the atomic beam methods.…”

Three-Dimensional Cooling of an Atom-Beam Source for High-Contrast Atom Interferometry

“…Compared with hot-atom beam sources, the slower mean velocity and narrower velocity distribution of cold atom beams both increase the interrogation time T and increase the fringe contrast of atom interferometers and clocks, resulting in improved measurement sensitivity [5][6][7]. Cold-atom sensors that operate periodically rather than continuously can undersample signals and noise, leading to the Dick effect in clocks [8] and inertial navigation errors for accelerometers and gyroscopes [9][10][11][12][13].…”