Applications of Superradiant Lasers for Inertial Sensing

这是一个理论项目，旨在建立一种新型的惯性传感器，能够观测和测量极小的旋转和极小的加速度。惯性传感器，包括陀螺仪和加速计，在航空、包括潜艇和船舶在内的海洋车辆以及天基运输平台的导航应用中尤其重要。现有的技术令人印象深刻，但仍存在轻微的缺陷，导致显著的漂移和不精确。这些缺陷很难用标准方法克服，因为它们是由无处不在的光散射现象引起的。在这个项目中，PI提出了一个计划中的研究计划，将一种新技术带到桌面上，该技术在性能和对这些不利影响的稳健性方面具有潜在的优势。PI将从理论上分析这种基于全新物理原理的新型惯性传感器。在所提出的装置的核心是一种被称为超辐射的现象，即描述当一组原子在特殊的内部状态下制备时，以光的形式潜在地快速耗散能量的术语。超辐射激光陀螺仪中的原子通过光子耦合在一起，这些光子在一个高适宜度的光学环形谐振器周围循环。这种方法使用了特殊的原子，这些原子具有长寿命的光学激发态；这种状态与最好的原子钟使用的状态相同。与现有技术相比，该系统提供了潜在的性能优势，这是因为光学相干存储在原子偶极子中，而不是存储在光学谐振器场中。这提供了由于集体效应而产生的相位刚性，从而避免了陀螺仪对标准不利缺陷的敏感，这些缺陷限制了几乎所有现场陀螺仪的性能。该项目的结果将是最终灵敏度和精度、动态范围的定量计算，以及对合奏中的运动效应的分析。将对噪声源的稳健性进行评估，包括均匀和非均匀消相(主要是多普勒效应)，以及光学腔长度的无处不在的振动和热波动。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This is a theoretical project to build a new kind of inertial sensor capable of observing and measuring extremely small rotations and extremely small accelerations. Inertial sensors, including both gyroscopes and accelerometers, are especially important in navigation applications for aviation, marine vehicles including submarines and ships, and space-based transport platforms. Existing technologies are impressive, but still suffer from slight imperfections that lead to significant drifts and imprecision. These imperfections are hard to overcome with standard approaches, since they arise from phenomena such as light scattering that are ubiquitous. In this project, the PI presents a planned program of research that brings to the table a new kind of technology with potential gains in performance and robustness to these adverse effects. The PI will analyze theoretically this new type of inertial sensor founded on a completely novel physical principle.At the heart of the proposed device is a phenomenon known as superradiance, that is, a term that describes the potentially rapid dissipation of energy in the form of light from an ensemble of atoms when they are prepared in special internal states. The atoms in the superradiant laser gyroscope are coupled together by photons that circulate around a high fitness optical ring resonator. The approach employs special atoms that possess long lived optically excited states; the same states that are used for the best atomic clocks. When compared with existing technologies, the system offers potential performance advantages that arise from the fact that the optical coherence is stored in the atomic dipoles rather than in the optical resonator field. This provides a phase rigidity due to collective effects that avoids the gyroscope being sensitive to the standard adverse imperfections that limit the performance of virtually all gyroscopes in the field. The outcomes of the project will be quantitative calculations of the ultimate sensitivity and precision, the dynamic range, and an analysis of motional effects in the ensemble. Evaluations will be made of the robustness to noise sources, including homogeneous and inhomogeneous dephasing (primarily Doppler effects), as well as the omnipresent vibrational and thermal fluctuations of the optical cavity length.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.