Inertial quantum sensors using light and matter

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in inertial quantum sensors that utilize light and matter waves, highlighting their fundamental principles, technological progress, and potential applications in precision measurement and navigation.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the development of atom interferometry-based inertial sensors and discusses future prospects for enhanced quantum sensing technologies.

Findings

Progress in manipulating matter-waves for precision measurements

Development of commercial quantum sensor products

Potential for creating highly entangled atomic states for improved sensitivity

Abstract

The past few decades have seen dramatic progress in our ability to manipulate and coherently control matter-waves. Although the duality between particles and waves has been well tested since de Broglie introduced the matter-wave analog of the optical wavelength in 1924, manipulating atoms with a level of coherence that enables one to use these properties for precision measurements has only become possible with our ability to produce atomic samples exhibiting temperatures of only a few millionths of a degree above absolute zero. Since the initial experiments a few decades ago, the field of atom optics has developed in many ways, with both fundamental and applied significance. The exquisite control of matter waves offers the prospect of a new generation of force sensors exhibiting unprecedented sensitivity and accuracy, for applications from navigation and geophysics to tests of general relativity. Thanks to the latest developments in this field, the first commercial products using this quantum technology are now available. In the future, our ability to create large coherent ensembles of atoms will allow us an even more precise control of the matter-wave and the ability to create highly entangled states for non-classical atom interferometry.