Matter Wave Analog of a Fiber-Optic Gyroscope

Confining the propagating wavepackets of an atom interferometer inside a waveguide can substantially reduce the size of the device while preserving high sensitivity. We have used the moving guide technique to create the first waveguide Sagnac atom interferometer. An 87Rb BEC is formed near the focus of a waveguide made by a single red-detuned beam. The BEC is split, reflected, and recombined with a series of Bragg pulses while the waveguide moves transversely so that the wavepacket trajectories enclose an area. We demonstrated single and multiple loop architecture. We also showed that the device can operate along both horizontal and vertical axis, which means that the moving guide approach is suitable for measuring rotation in all directions. Moreover, interference fringe was obtained for wavepackets propagating with splitting momenta higher than 2hk, up to 6hk. In this talk/poster, we will describe recent progress on the experiment, including increases in enclosed area and coherence time, and discuss important limitations of this type of atom interferometer.