A Continuous Dual-Axis Atomic Interferometric Inertial Sensor

TL;DR

This paper introduces a dual-axis atomic interferometric inertial sensor capable of measuring rotation and acceleration simultaneously with high stability and sensitivity, suitable for dynamic environments.

Contribution

It demonstrates a novel dual-axis atomic interferometer with a 54 cm interrogation length, capable of concurrent rotation and acceleration sensing in real-world conditions.

Findings

Achieved high sensitivity with ARW of 3×10⁻⁴ °/√h and VRW of 107 μg/√Hz.

Calibrated gyroscope scaling factor and addressed nonlinearity through turntable experiments.

Long-term stability of 9×10⁻⁴ °/h for rotation and 10 μg for acceleration over 1000 seconds.

Abstract

We present an interferometric inertial sensor that utilizes two counter-propagating atomic beams with transverse two-dimensional cooling. By employing three parallel and spatially aligned Raman laser beams for Doppler-sensitive Raman transitions, we successfully generate inertia-sensitive Mach-Zehnder interference fringes with an interrogation length of $2L=54\,\rm{cm}$. The sensor's capability to measure rotation and acceleration simultaneously in dynamic environments is validated through comparative analysis with classical sensors under force oscillation in different directions. Additionally, we conduct experiments on a turntable to calibrate the gyroscope's scaling factor and address nonlinearity. The angular random walk (ARW) and velocity random walk (VRW) of the senor are $3\times10^{-4}\,^\circ/\rm{\sqrt{h}}$ and $107\,\mathrm{\mu}g/\rm{\sqrt{Hz}}$, respectively, with the long-term stability reaching $9\times10^{-4}\,\rm{^\circ/h}$ for rotation and $10\,\rm{\mu g}$ for acceleration at an integration time of 1000s.