Quantum tiltmeter with atom interferometry

Matter-wave sensors with cold atoms have progressed tremendously over recent decades. We report a sensitive tilt sensor based on quantum technology employing cold atoms. This quantum tiltmeter is constructed with the configuration of a Ramsey-Bordé atom interferometer, achieving an improvement of nearly three orders of magnitude for tilt measurements with a short-term sensitivity of 1.3μrad/Hz1/2, with resolution down to 55nrad at an integration time of 1000 s. The deformation of the Earth's surface has been monitored in a continuous run of 31 h, showing that a quantum tiltmeter can be applied to record tilt tides and can be an valuable sensor in geophysics and various scientific facilities.Received 14 June 2017DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.96.063606©2017 American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)