Atomic interferometry for simultaneous measurement of g and its vertical gradient

This work focuses on the development of a new generation of cold-atom inertial sensor. Its architecture is based on two independent atomic sources simultaneously interrogated by an interferometric sequence common to both sources. In addition, in order to achieve ultimate measurement performance, our instrument is based on the latest optical methods for atomic manipulation: Bloch oscillations and multi-photon transitions. During my thesis, the instrument has reached a level of development to perform a proof-of-principle operation, allowing to simultaneously measure the gravity acceleration g and its vertical gradient. In particular, we demonstrated a new measurement method that allows to overcome not only common mode noise, but also the baseline fluctuations of the instrument, for the determination of the gravity gradient. To carry out this work, I also used a prototype of industrial optical bench for space application, developed as part of a project funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and coordinated by the Muquans company. In parallel with the developments of our instrument, we tested and characterized this fiber bench which fulfills all the optical functionalities necessary for the operation of an atom interferometer in space.

atom interferometry, inertial sensor, gravimetry, metrology, space application

Full document : https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-03020176.