Progress towards field-deployable time-multiplexed multi-axis acceleration sensing using high data rate cold atom interferometry

Quantum inertial sensors have been demonstrated with a light-pulse atom interferometer (LPAI) to measure acceleration and angular velocity with significantly improved sensitivity, bias stability, and scale factor compared to conventional sensors. In order to realize a quantum inertial measurement unit (Q-IMU) using a 3-axis quantum accelerometer and a 3-axis quantum gyroscope, it is important to miniaturize and ruggedize the LPAI sensor head and the laser system with (1) high data rate LPAI and (2) time-multiplexed multi-axis sensing. The high data rate LPAI operation makes the sensor robust to vibration and high dynamics by reducing the detrimental effects of relative motion between the atomic cloud and the light pulses. The time-multiplexed multi-axis sensing approach allows sequential interrogation of all three axes and reduces the size, weight, and power of an LPAI by consolidating three or more sensor devices into one package. A field-deployable Q-IMU should be operable on all three axes, compact for portability, and be robust against real-world environments, all while maintaining high sensor performance. We demonstrated a 2-axis atom interferometer accelerometer (up to 68 Hz) and developed a compact sensor package that can perform a 3-axis atom interferometer accelerometer. We show our progress towards implementing a fully operational three-axis quantum accelerometer.