Atom-light hybrid quantum gyroscope

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel atom-light hybrid quantum gyroscope that leverages atomic ensembles and optical loops to achieve rotation sensitivity surpassing the standard quantum limit, with potential applications in inertial navigation.

Contribution

It proposes a new hybrid quantum gyroscope design combining atomic Raman amplification and optical Sagnac loop, demonstrating enhanced sensitivity beyond existing technologies.

Findings

Can beat the standard quantum limit in ideal conditions

Maintains superior sensitivity even with practical attenuation

Potentially outperforming fiber optic gyroscopes

Abstract

A new type of atom-light hybrid quantum gyroscope (ALHQG) is proposed due to its high rotation sensitivity. It consists of an optical Sagnac loop to couple rotation rate and an atomic ensemble as quantum beam splitter/recombiner (QBS/C) based on atomic Raman amplification process to realize the splitting and recombination of the optical wave and the atomic spin wave. The rotation sensitivity can be enhanced by the quantum correlation between Sagnac loop and QBS/C. The optimal working condition is investigated to achieve the best sensitivity. The numerical results show that the rotation sensitivity can beat the standard quantum limit (SQL) in ideal condition. Even in the presence of the attenuation under practical condition, the best sensitivity of the ALHQG can still beat the SQL and is better than that of a fiber optic gyroscope (FOG). Such an ALHQG could be practically applied for modern inertial navigation system.