SBIR Phase I: High-Performance Cold Atom Gravimeter

这个小型企业创新研究计划(SBIR)第一阶段项目将为高灵敏度、稳定和精确的现场可展开激光冷却原子干涉重力仪开发详细的设计和全面的性能模型。在实验室中，原子干涉式绝对重力仪既实现了超常的长期精度，又实现了极低的漂移。该公司将利用在以前的基础上开发和实验验证的专有技术进步，生产用于大地测量应用的高度紧凑、可现场部署的传感器。与最先进的重力仪相比，建议的甚高性能重力仪将获得数量级的改进，提高了可靠性，降低了功耗，减小了体积和重量，并最终降低了成本。建议的传感器的新配置大大抑制了众所周知的仪器对高频振动噪声的敏感性，从而实现了低成本的现场部署。第一阶段工作的主要方面包括(1)为紧凑、高性能重力仪应用发展和定制现有的冷原子技术。(2)通过分析模型和蒙特卡罗模拟分析传感器的性能，以进行预期的部署。(3)对整个系统进行详细的工程设计，这将导致系统在第二阶段的快速建设。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将使地震学、大地测量学和环境科学受益。高灵敏度的冷原子重力仪在地球物理应用、矿产勘探以及作为地震、海啸或火山喷发的早期预警系统方面具有巨大的商业潜力。由于安装和场地准备费用较高，目前无法在密集网络中更广泛地部署现有的地震传感器。由重力仪和地震仪组成的更密集的传感器网络将提高美国和国际地震事件的监测、预测和理解能力。目前，高灵敏度重力仪被用于绘制地球？S场异常以进行精确导航，监测地球？S潮汐以寻找气候变化的证据，并绘制地下水位表以进行资源管理。拟议的重力仪性能优越、功耗低、体积和重量小，这既有助于现有任务，也有利于新的任务。作为未来单位的价格？随着现有宽带地震仪成本的降低，拟议的冷原子传感器将成为现有宽带地震仪的更好替代方案。

This Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a detailed design and a comprehensive performance model for a highly sensitive, stable, and accurate field deployable laser-cooled atom interferometric gravimeter. In the laboratory, atom interferometric absolute gravimeters have achieved both exceptional long term accuracy and very low bias drift. The company will leverage proprietary technological advances developed and experimentally validated under previous, to produce a highly compact, field-deployable sensor for geodesy applications. The proposed very high performance gravimeter will attain an order-of-magnitude improvement compared to the state-of-the-art, at improved reliability, lower power consumption, smaller size and weight, and ultimately reduced cost. A novel configuration of the proposed sensor substantially suppresses well-known instrument sensitivity to high frequency vibration noise, enabling low cost field deployment. The main aspects of the Phase I effort include (1) evolving and customizing existing cold-atom technology for the compact, high performance gravimeter application. (2) Analyzing sensor performance via analytical models and Monte-Carlo simulations for intended deployment. (3) Producing a detailed engineering design of the complete system which will lead to rapid system build in Phase II.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will benefit seismology, geodesy, and environmental sciences. Highly sensitive cold-atom gravimeters have tremendous commercialization potential for geophysical applications, mineral exploration, and as an early-warning system for earthquakes, tsunamis, or volcanic eruptions. The high installation and site preparation costs currently preclude a wider deployment of existing seismic sensors in a dense network. A denser sensor network of gravimeters and seismographs will improve both U.S. and international seismic event monitoring, prediction, and understanding capability. Highly sensitive gravimeters are currently deployed to map the earth?s field anomaly for precision navigation, monitoring earth?s tides for evidence of climate change and map out underground water tables for resource management. The superior performance, low power consumption, and small size and weight of the proposed gravimeter will both aid existing missions and facilitate new ones. As the price of future units? decreases to the cost of existing broadband seismometers, the proposed cold-atom sensor will become a superior alternative to existing broadband seismometers.