A portable magneto-optical trap with prospects for atom interferometry in civil engineering

Andrew Hinton, Marisa Perea Ortiz, Andrew Lamb, Clemens Rammeloo, Ben Stray, Georgios Voulazeris, Lingxiao Zhu, Aisha Kaushik, Yu-Hung Lien, Alexander Niggebaum, Anthony Rodgers, Artur Stabrawa, Daniel Boddice, Simon Plant, George Tickwell, Kai Bongs, Nicole Metje, Michael Holynski, J. Winch, J. BriggsS. Freer, D. Moustoukas, S. Powell-Gill, C. Squire

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

The high precision and scalable technology offered by atom interferometry has the opportunity to profoundly affect gravity surveys, enabling the detection of features of either smaller size or greater depth. While such systems are already starting to enter into the commercial market, significant reductions are required in order to reach the size, weight and power of conventional devices. In
this article the potential for atom interferometry based gravimetry is assessed, suggesting that the key opportunity resides within the development of gravity gradiometry sensors to enable drastic improvements in measurement time. To push forward in realising more compact systems, techniques have been pursued to realise a highly portable magnetooptical trap system, which represents the core package of an atom interferometry system. This can create
clouds of 107 atoms within a system package of 20 litres and 10kg, consuming 80W of power.
Original languageEnglish
Article number20160238
JournalPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
Volume375
Issue number2099
Early online date26 Jun 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Aug 2017

Keywords

  • gravity
  • survey
  • gradiometry

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