US 12,359,919 B2
High-contrast atomic inertial interferometry with frequency comb or comb-like light source
Robert Compton, Loretto, MN (US)
Assigned to Honeywell International Inc., Charlotte, NC (US)
Filed by Honeywell International Inc., Charlotte, NC (US)
Filed on Mar. 28, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/191,541.
Prior Publication US 2024/0328786 A1, Oct. 3, 2024
Int. Cl. G01C 21/16 (2006.01); G01C 19/58 (2006.01); G02F 1/35 (2006.01); H01S 3/00 (2006.01)
CPC G01C 21/165 (2013.01) [G01C 19/58 (2013.01); G02F 1/3517 (2013.01); H01S 3/0078 (2013.01); G02F 2203/56 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An atomic inertial interferometer, comprising:
a laser device configured to emit a continuous wave (CW) beam at a given frequency along an optical path;
at least one optical modulator, along the optical path, configured to receive the CW beam from the laser device and produce a modulated CW beam;
an optical filter and delay mechanism in optical communication with the laser device and operative to receive the modulated CW beam, the optical filter and delay mechanism including a first optical pathway for the modulated CW beam, and a second optical pathway longer than the first optical pathway;
a comb generator along the second optical pathway and configured to receive a portion of the modulated CW beam, the comb generator operative to produce a frequency comb with a narrow bandwidth;
a comb drive operatively coupled to the comb generator, the comb drive configured to generate a multiple of a comb repetition rate, the comb drive including a high frequency (HF) source coupled to a bandpass filter, wherein the comb drive is operative to deliver a defined modulation to the comb generator, which writes a defined number of comb teeth onto the portion of the modulated CW beam to produce the frequency comb; and
a vacuum cell in optical communication with the optical filter and delay mechanism, the vacuum cell configured to hold a sample of alkali atoms, the vacuum cell configured such that a velocity of the atoms in the vacuum cell is substantially reduced to produce a sample of cold atoms;
wherein the frequency comb counter-propagates with respect to the modulated CW beam along the optical path;
wherein the counter-propagating modulated CW beam and frequency comb provide velocity slicing of the cold atoms such that a given temperature distribution of the cold atoms is sliced into a plurality of narrow temperature distributions;
wherein each of the narrow temperature distributions is probed individually and in parallel by the modulated CW beam and the frequency comb, to extract independently, an interference signal from each of the narrow temperature distributions.