The Sagnac effect: 20 years of development in matter-wave interferometry

TL;DR

This paper reviews 20 years of development in matter-wave interferometry for the Sagnac effect, highlighting advances in sensitivity, configurations, and applications in inertial guidance and geophysics.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive comparison of space-domain and time-domain matter-wave Sagnac interferometers and discusses recent advancements in cold atom technologies.

Findings

High sensitivity measurements comparable to optical interferometers

Comparison of space-domain and time-domain configurations

Preliminary results from latest cold atom interferometers

Abstract

Since the first atom interferometry experiments in 1991, measurements of rotation through the Sagnac effect in open-area atom interferometers has been studied. These studies have demonstrated very high sensitivity which can compete with state-of-the-art optical Sagnac interferometers. Since the early 2000s, these developments have been motivated by possible applications in inertial guidance and geophysics. Most matter-wave interferometers that have been investigated since then are based on two-photon Raman transitions for the manipulation of atomic wave packets. Results from the two most studied configurations, a space-domain interferometer with atomic beams and a time-domain interferometer with cold atoms, are presented and compared. Finally, the latest generation of cold atom interferometers and their preliminary results are presented.