SBIR Phase I: High-Performance Cold Atom Gravimeter

This Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a detailed design and a comprehensive performance model for a highly sensitive, stable, and accurate field deployable laser-cooled atom interferometric gravimeter. In the laboratory, atom interferometric absolute gravimeters have achieved both exceptional long term accuracy and very low bias drift. The company will leverage proprietary technological advances developed and experimentally validated under previous, to produce a highly compact, field-deployable sensor for geodesy applications. The proposed very high performance gravimeter will attain an order-of-magnitude improvement compared to the state-of-the-art, at improved reliability, lower power consumption, smaller size and weight, and ultimately reduced cost. A novel configuration of the proposed sensor substantially suppresses well-known instrument sensitivity to high frequency vibration noise, enabling low cost field deployment. The main aspects of the Phase I effort include (1) evolving and customizing existing cold-atom technology for the compact, high performance gravimeter application. (2) Analyzing sensor performance via analytical models and Monte-Carlo simulations for intended deployment. (3) Producing a detailed engineering design of the complete system which will lead to rapid system build in Phase II. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will benefit seismology, geodesy, and environmental sciences. Highly sensitive cold-atom gravimeters have tremendous commercialization potential for geophysical applications, mineral exploration, and as an early-warning system for earthquakes, tsunamis, or volcanic eruptions. The high installation and site preparation costs currently preclude a wider deployment of existing seismic sensors in a dense network. A denser sensor network of gravimeters and seismographs will improve both U.S. and international seismic event monitoring, prediction, and understanding capability. Highly sensitive gravimeters are currently deployed to map the earth?s field anomaly for precision navigation, monitoring earth?s tides for evidence of climate change and map out underground water tables for resource management. The superior performance, low power consumption, and small size and weight of the proposed gravimeter will both aid existing missions and facilitate new ones. As the price of future units? decreases to the cost of existing broadband seismometers, the proposed cold-atom sensor will become a superior alternative to existing broadband seismometers.