Applications of Superradiant Lasers for Inertial Sensing

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

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.