B. Canuel

Six-axis inertial sensor using cold-atom interferometry.

We have developed an atom interferometer providing a full inertial base. This device uses two counterpropagating cold-atom clouds that are launched in strongly curved parabolic trajectories. Three single Raman beam pairs, pulsed in time, are successively applied in three orthogonal directions leading to the measurement of the three axis of rotation and acceleration. In this purpose, we introduce a new atom gyroscope using a butterfly geometry. We discuss the present sensitivity and the possible improvements.

The Sagnac effect: 20 years of development in matter-wave interferometry

Abstract Since the first atom interferometry experiments in 1991, measurements of rotation through the Sagnac effect in open-area atom interferometers have been investigated. These studies have demonstrated very high sensitivity that can compete with state-of-the-art optical Sagnac interferometers. Since the early 2000s, these developments have been motivated by possible applications in inertial guidance and geophysics. Most matter-wave interferometers that have been investigated since then are based on two-photon Raman transitions for the manipulation of atomic wave packets. Results from the two most studied configurations, a space-domain interferometer with atomic beams and a time-domain interferometer with cold atoms, are presented and compared. Finally, the latest generation of cold atom interferometers and their preliminary results are presented.

Low frequency gravitational wave detection with ground-based atom interferometer arrays

We propose a new detection strategy for gravitational waves (GWs) below few Hertz based on a correlated array of atom interferometers (AIs). Our proposal allows to reject the Newtonian Noise (NN) which limits all ground based GW detectors below few Hertz, including previous atom interferometry-based concepts. Using an array of long baseline AI gradiometers yields several estimations of the NN, whose effect can thus be reduced via statistical averaging. Considering the km baseline of current optical detectors, a NN rejection of factor 2 could be achieved, and tested with existing AI array geometries. Exploiting the correlation properties of the gravity acceleration noise, we show that a 10-fold or more NN rejection is possible with a dedicated configuration. Considering a conservative NN model and the current developments in cold atom technology, we show that strain sensitivities below

Exploring gravity with the MIGA large scale atom interferometer

1\times 10^{-19}/\sqrt{Hz}

A marginally stable optical resonator for enhanced atom interferometry

in the

Watt-level single-frequency tunable neodymium MOPA fiber laser operating at 915-937 nm

0.3-3 \ Hz

A large mode optical resonator for enhanced atom interferometry

frequency band can be within reach, with a peak sensitivity of

High resolution atom interferometry with optical resonators

3\times 10^{-23} /\sqrt{Hz}

Watt-level single-frequency tunable neodymium MOPA fiber laser operating at 915–937 nm

at

MIGA: Combining laser and matter wave interferometry for mass distribution monitoring and advanced geodesy

2 \ Hz