A cold atom pyramidal gravimeter with a single laser beam

TL;DR

This paper presents a compact cold atom gravimeter using a pyramidal hollow structure that simplifies the setup by employing a single laser beam, achieving high sensitivity suitable for practical applications.

Contribution

The authors introduce a novel pyramidal configuration enabling all gravimeter functions with one laser beam, reducing complexity and size significantly.

Findings

Achieved a relative sensitivity of 1.7 x 10^-7 at one second

Used only 50 mW laser power for high sensitivity

Demonstrated a compact and practical gravimeter design

Abstract

We demonstrate a scheme for realizing a compact cold atom gravimeter. The use of a hollow pyramidal configuration allows to achieve all functions: trapping, interferometer and detection with a unique laser beam leading to a drastic reduction in complexity and volume. In particular, we demonstrate a relative sensitivity to acceleration of gravity (g) of 1.7 x 10-7 at one second, with a moderate laser power of 50 mW. This simple geometry combined to such a high sensitivity opens wide perspectives for practical applications (P. Bouyer and A. Landragin, patent number FR2009/000252, 2009).