Sensing performance enhancement via asymmetric gain optimization in the atom-light hybrid interferometer

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that asymmetric gain optimization can mitigate loss effects in SU(1,1)-type atom-light hybrid interferometers, enhancing visibility and signal-to-noise ratio for practical sensing applications.

Contribution

It introduces an experimental method to improve visibility in SALHI by asymmetric gain optimization, linking visibility with SNR enhancement under loss conditions.

Findings

Loss mitigation extends visibility close to 100%

Optimal conditions for visibility and SNR are identical

Enhanced SNR improves practical sensing performance

Abstract

The SU (1,1)-type atom-light hybrid interferometer (SALHI) is a kind of interferometer that is sensitive to both the optical phase and atomic phase. However, the loss has been an unavoidable problem in practical applications and greatly limits the use of interferometers. Visibility is an important parameter to evaluate the sensing performance of interferometers. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the mitigating effect of the loss on visibility of the SALHI via asymmetric gain optimization, where the maximum threshold of loss to visibility close to $100\%$ is increased. Furthermore, we theoretically find that the optimal condition for the largest visibility is the same as that for the enhancement of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to the best value in the presence of losses using the intensity detection, indicating that the visibility can act as an experimental operational criterion for SNR improvement in practical applications. Improvement of the interference visibility means achievement of SNR enhancement. Our results provide a significant foundation for practical application of the SALHI in radar and ranging measurements.