arXiv subjects

Tomoya Sato

Publications and source records attributed to Tomoya Sato.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Theoretical Proposal of a Digital Closed-Loop Thermal Atomic-Beam Interferometer for High-Bandwidth, Wide-Dynamic-Range, and Simultaneous Absolute Acceleration-Rotation Sensing

We present a theoretical proposal and simulation study of a digital closed-loop thermal atomic-beam interferometer for inertial navigation applications. The scheme synchronizes phase biasing with momentum-kick reversal through the atomic transit time, extracting four interferometric phases to suppress Raman beam path-length errors, while two-photon detuning feedback maintains a pseudo-inertial frame and eliminates cross-coupling. The interferometer enables simultaneous measurements of acceleration and rotation based on an absolute, atom-interferometric reference, with high bandwidth and a wide dynamic range. Numerical simulations verify that acceleration and angular velocity can be measured simultaneously and independently in real time without cross-coupling, demonstrating the absolute, decoupled nature of the proposed measurement scheme. We further evaluate the noise-limited performance of the sensor and obtain sensitivities of $3{\rm \mu m / s^2 / \sqrt{Hz}}$ (velocity random walk) and $15{\rm \mu deg / \sqrt{h}}$ (angular random walk) for a ${170}^{\circ}$ $^{85}$Rb beam and an interferometer arm length of 100~mm, surpassing the performance of sensors currently used in state-of-the-art inertial navigation systems.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2025

Sensitivity Enhancement in Atom-Interferometer Gyroscopes via Phase-Modulation Signal Readout Scheme

Quantum sensors based on atom interferometers are advancing both fundamental physics and practical applications, with higher sensitivity being a key requirement for these investigations. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a sensitivity enhancement of an atom-interferometer gyroscope using a phase-modulation signal readout scheme. Phase modulation applied to the laser light used for atomic state manipulation is transferred to the atomic phase and read out via multi-harmonic demodulation. The observed sensitivity improvement factor of $1.20\pm0.04$ over the conventional phase sweep scheme agrees with theoretical predictions. We also found that phase-dispersion compensation control, which compensates atomic velocity dispersion and preserves interference contrast at high angular rates, effectively eliminates the nonlinearity inherent in multi-harmonic demodulation. The sensitivity improvement achieved by our method is applicable to a broad class of atom interferometers and requires no modifications to the optical or vacuum systems, making it particularly effective for size-constrained applications such as large-baseline experiments and inertial navigation systems.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2025

Sub-Recoil Transverse Momentum Width in a Cold Ytterbium Atomic Beam

We demonstrate the generation of a slow ytterbium atomic beam with a transverse momentum width of $0.44(6)$ times the photon recoil associated with Bragg diffraction, and a flux of $6.7(9) \times 10^6$ atoms/s. This is achieved by applying momentum filtering through a long-lived metastable state to atoms prepared in a slow beam via two-dimensional transverse laser cooling. The resulting narrow momentum distribution enables efficient quasi-Bragg diffraction, which we exploit to realize a Bragg interferometer. These results mark a significant step toward continuous, high-precision, and magnetically insensitive angular rate measurements using cold alkaline-earth(-like) atomic beams.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2024

Closed-loop measurements in an atom interferometer gyroscope with velocity-dependent phase-dispersion compensation

Atom interferometer-based gyroscopes are expected to have a wide range of applications due to their high sensitivity. However, their dynamic range is limited by dephasing caused by velocity-dependent Sagnac phase shift in combination with the longitudinal velocity distribution of the atoms, restricting measurements of large angular velocities. In this study, we present a method for restoring the contrast deterioration in angular velocity measurements with interferometer gyroscopes using atomic beams. Our findings show that by introducing the pseudo-rotation effect with appropriate two-photon detunings for Raman lights in the interferometer, it is possible to effectively cancel the Sagnac phase shift for all atoms in the velocity distribution of the beam. Consequently, the contrast is unaffected by the rotation. Furthermore, we applied this method to an interferometer gyroscope with counter-propagating atomic beams sharing the same Raman lights. It is found that the angular velocity of the system can be estimated through the detuning point where the phase difference between the two interferometers is zero. This approach ensures that the scale factor of the atom interferometer gyroscope is independent of the change in the longitudinal velocity distribution of the atomic beam. We demonstrate our technique using the interferometer gyroscope of thermal atomic beams of rubidium-87, achieving a measurement of angular velocity of $\mathrm{{1.0}^{\circ}/s}$ even with an acceleration of 0.68$\mathrm{m/s^2}$ on a three-axis rotation table. This simple and robust dispersion compensation method with Raman light detuning benefits dynamic angular velocity measurements in field applications such as the inertial navigation of vehicles.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2024

Analyzing the sensitivity of an atom interferometer with a phase-modulation readout scheme

The sensitivity of an interferometer depends on its readout scheme. However, little attention has been paid to the readout schemes of atom interferometers from the viewpoint of their sensitivity. The difference in sensitivity between readout schemes or their optimization has not been considered in the literature. Herein we analytically calculate the sensitivities of an atom interferometer with typical readout schemes by applying the two-photon formalism, which was developed for optical interferometers to deal with quantum noise. Our calculations reveal that by using sinusoidal phase modulation, the sensitivity can surpass that obtained by the conventional phase sweeping scheme. The superiority of this phase modulation scheme for both cold and thermal atomic beams is demonstrated. In addition, we show that the phase modulation scheme is advantageous for atom-flux fluctuation and resists atom-flux drift. This study performs a general analysis of the sensitivity of atom interferometers and identifies an advantageous readout scheme.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2022

High-Flux Cold Ytterbium Atomic Beam Source Using Two-Dimensional Laser Cooling with Intercombination Transition

We demonstrate a high-flux and low transverse temperature atomic beam of ytterbium by applying two-dimensional cooling using the ${}^1\mathrm{S}_0\text{-}{}^3\mathrm{P}_1$ intercombination transition to the cold atomic beam produced by the dipolar-allowed ${}^1\mathrm{S}_0\text{-}{}^1\mathrm{P}_1$ transition. The optimized transverse temperature of $11 \pm 9\,\mathrm{μK}$ and an atomic flux of $(7.5 \pm 1.0) \times 10^8\,\mathrm{atoms/s}$ are obtained for the atomic beam whose longitudinal velocity is $30\,\mathrm{m/s}$. The transverse temperature is maintained below $23\,\mathrm{μK}$, while the flux is above $6.5 \times 10^8\,\mathrm{atoms/s}$ in the longitudinal velocity range of $22 - 30\,\mathrm{m/s}$. We also discuss the feasibility of further narrowing the transverse momentum width to less than the recoil momentum using the momentum-selective optical transition between the ground state and the long-lived metastable state. The transverse momentum width of our atomic beam, which is narrower than 5.7 times the recoil momentum, is a good starting point for the proposed method.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2019

Alkali ion-to-neutral atom converter for the magneto-optical trap of a radioactive isotope

We have developed a unique neutralizer device that uses an yttrium target surrounded by a platinum wall to magneto-optically trap radioactive atoms. In general, the radioactive nucleus produced in a nuclear reaction is extracted and transported in ion form. For the magneto-optical trap, thermal neutralization must occur on the surface of a metal with a small work function. The converter can produce a neutral atomic beam with small angular divergence that, given the recycling of atoms and ions, converts ions into neutral atoms with remarkable efficiency. We demonstrated the ion neutralization process using stable rubidium and confirmed $10^6$ neutralized atoms in the magneto-optical trap. Additionally, the experiment using francium demonstrated the obtaining of neutralized francium atoms.

physics.atom-ph↗