Abstract
With the rapid development of modern physics, atomic gyroscopes have been demonstrated in recent years. There are two types of atomic gyroscope. The Atomic Interferometer Gyroscope (AIG), which utilizes the atomic interferometer to sense rotation, is an ultra-high precision gyroscope; and the Atomic Spin Gyroscope (ASG), which utilizes atomic spin to sense rotation, features high precision, compact size and the possibility to make a chip-scale one. Recent developments in the atomic gyroscope field have created new ways to obtain high precision gyroscopes which were previously unavailable with mechanical or optical gyroscopes, but there are still lots of problems that need to be overcome to meet the requirements of inertial navigation systems. This paper reviews the basic principles of AIG and ASG, introduces the recent progress in this area, focusing on discussing their technical difficulties for inertial navigation applications, and suggests methods for developing high performance atomic gyroscopes in the near future.
Highlights
Gyroscopes are one of the key sensors for Inertial Navigation Systems (INSs), and are used widely for underwater robots, cars, airplanes, satellites, etc. [1,2,3]
2007, they demonstrated the World’s first Atomic Interferometer Gyroscope (AIG) with guided atoms [30]. This AIG was able to guide the cold atoms to move around the closed loop twice, and resolved 10 times the Earth’s rotation rate per interferometry cycle. They have focused on the delta-kicked rotor to improve the coherence of the atoms during the interferometry cycle to increase the times of the guided atoms which moves around the loop [36,37], and they designed a new macroscopic magnetic guide based on nonsymmetrical geometries to decrease the guided potential field noise to improve the guided atomic interferometer performance [38]
For an ensemble of atoms, the atomic spin is able to keep pointing at its original direction in the inertial coordinate system, which is similar to the mechanical rotor in the traditional mechanical gyroscope, so the atomic spin can be utilized to sense rotation as well
Summary
Gyroscopes are one of the key sensors for Inertial Navigation Systems (INSs), and are used widely for underwater robots, cars, airplanes, satellites, etc. [1,2,3]. The atomic clock which utilizes atomic hyperfine structure, has become the World’s most accurate time standard [11]; the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyzer, which utilizes NMR phenomena of atomic spin, has become one of the most powerful tools in modern medicine [12]; and the Atomic Spin Gyroscope (ASG) is an important sensitive atomic spin sensor for high performance inertial navigation applications, which is believed to be the development trend for the high precision and compact gyroscopes in future. With the development of modern atomic physics, AIG and ASG have been designed and demonstrated that they will be the generation gyroscopes for future high precision inertial navigation applications [13,14]. Since AIG and ASG are based on different principles, they will be introduced and analyzed separately
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