English

Closed-loop dual-channel atomic beam interferometry beyond the half-fringe limit

Atomic Physics 2026-03-17 v1

Abstract

Atom interferometric inertial sensors offer exceptional sensitivity but are fundamentally constrained by the periodic phase response of matter-wave interference, which imposes an intrinsic half-fringe dynamic-range limit and prevents continuous inertial tracking. In multi-axis configurations, additional cross coupling between acceleration and rotation further complicates closed-loop operation. Here we demonstrate the first dual-channel closed-loop operation of an atomic beam interferometer, realizing decoupled feedback control of acceleration- and rotation-induced phases and overcoming the half-fringe limitation. Using continuous, transversely cooled 87^{87}Rb atomic beams, the interferometric phases associated with rotation and acceleration are independently extracted, tracked across multiple fringes, and actively compensated through Raman frequency modulation. This closed-loop scheme enables unambiguous measurements up to ±1/s\pm1\,\mathrm{^{\circ}/s} in rotation and ±0.17g\pm0.17\,\mathrm{g} in acceleration while maintaining high fringe contrast, corresponding to nearly two orders-of-magnitude extension beyond the conventional half-fringe limit. The sensor achieves a long-term stability of 4×104/h4\times10^{-4}\,\mathrm{^{\circ}/h} for rotation and 4μg4\,\mathrm{\mu g} for acceleration at an averaging time of 1000s1000\,\mathrm{s}. By converting the intrinsically periodic interferometric response into stabilized phase-encoded inertial channels, this work establishes a new operating regime for atomic beam interferometry and advances matter-wave sensors toward practical quantum inertial navigation under dynamic conditions.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2603.14777,
  title  = {Closed-loop dual-channel atomic beam interferometry beyond the half-fringe limit},
  author = {Wei-Chen Jia and Yue Xin and Ke Shen and Zhi-Xin Meng and Xiang-Xiang Lu and Yi-Cheng Deng and Yuan-Xing Liu and Yan-Ying Feng},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.14777},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

6 pages,4 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:21:23.401Z