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arXiv · 2107.04792

A Compact Cold-Atom Interferometer with a High Data-Rate Grating Magneto-Optical Trap and a Photonic-Integrated-Circuit-Compatible Laser System

Jongmin Lee·Roger Ding·Justin Christensen·Randy R. Rosenthal·Aaron Ison·Daniel Paul Gillund·David Bossert·Kyle H. Fuerschbach·William Kindel·Patrick S. Finnegan·Joel R. Wendt·Michael Gehl·Ashok Kodigala·Hayden McGuinness·Charles A. Walker·Shanalyn A. Kemme·Anthony Lentine·Grant Biedermann·Peter D. D. Schwindt
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Abstract

The extreme miniaturization of a cold-atom interferometer accelerometer requires the development of novel technologies and architectures for the interferometer subsystems. Here we describe several component technologies and a laser system architecture to enable a path to such miniaturization. We developed a custom, compact titanium vacuum package containing a microfabricated grating chip for a tetrahedral grating magneto-optical trap (GMOT) using a single cooling beam. In addition, we designed a multi-channel photonic-integrated-circuit-compatible laser system implemented with a single seed laser and single sideband modulators in a time-multiplexed manner, reducing the number of optical channels connected to the sensor head. In a compact sensor head containing the vacuum package, sub-Doppler cooling in the GMOT produces 15 uK temperatures, and the GMOT can operate at a 20 Hz data rate. We validated the atomic coherence with Ramsey interferometry using microwave spectroscopy, then demonstrated a light-pulse atom interferometer in a gravimeter configuration for a 10 Hz measurement data rate and T = 0 - 4.5 ms interrogation time, resulting in $\Delta$ g / g = 2.0e-6. This work represents a significant step towards deployable cold-atom inertial sensors under large amplitude motional dynamics.

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Jongmin Lee, Roger Ding, Justin Christensen, Randy R. Rosenthal, Aaron Ison, Daniel Paul Gillund, David Bossert, Kyle H. Fuerschbach, William Kindel, Patrick S. Finnegan, Joel R. Wendt, Michael Gehl, Ashok Kodigala, Hayden McGuinness, Charles A. Walker, Shanalyn A. Kemme, Anthony Lentine, Grant Biedermann, Peter D. D. Schwindt. 2021-07-10. A Compact Cold-Atom Interferometer with a High Data-Rate Grating Magneto-Optical Trap and a Photonic-Integrated-Circuit-Compatible Laser System. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31410-4

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