Sensitivity Enhancement in Atom-Interferometer Gyroscopes via Phase-Modulation Signal Readout Scheme

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a phase-modulation readout scheme that enhances the sensitivity of atom-interferometer gyroscopes by about 20%, without requiring system modifications, benefiting compact and large-scale applications.

Contribution

The authors introduce a phase-modulation signal readout method that improves atom interferometer gyroscope sensitivity and addresses nonlinearity issues, applicable to various configurations.

Findings

Sensitivity improved by a factor of 1.20±0.04

Phase-dispersion compensation reduces nonlinearity

Method applicable to broad class of atom interferometers

Abstract

Quantum sensors based on atom interferometers are advancing both fundamental physics and practical applications, with higher sensitivity being a key requirement for these investigations. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a sensitivity enhancement of an atom-interferometer gyroscope using a phase-modulation signal readout scheme. Phase modulation applied to the laser light used for atomic state manipulation is transferred to the atomic phase and read out via multi-harmonic demodulation. The observed sensitivity improvement factor of $1.20\pm0.04$ over the conventional phase sweep scheme agrees with theoretical predictions. We also found that phase-dispersion compensation control, which compensates atomic velocity dispersion and preserves interference contrast at high angular rates, effectively eliminates the nonlinearity inherent in multi-harmonic demodulation. The sensitivity improvement achieved by our method is applicable to a broad class of atom interferometers and requires no modifications to the optical or vacuum systems, making it particularly effective for size-constrained applications such as large-baseline experiments and inertial navigation systems.