- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review Applied

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Suppression of amplitude-modulation noise in dynamic atom gravimeters

Wen-Zhang Wang1,2, Jin-Ting Li1,2, Dan-Fang Zhang1,2, Wei-Hao Xu1,2, Jia-Yi Wei1,2, Jia-Qi Zhong1,4, Biao Tang1, Lin Zhou1,4, Run-Bing Li1,3,4 et al.

Xi Chen1,3,*, Jin Wang1,3,4,†, and Ming-Sheng Zhan1,3,4,‡

  • *Contact author: chenxi@apm.ac.cn
  • †Contact author: wangjin@apm.ac.cn
  • ‡Contact author: mszhan@apm.ac.cn
PDF

Phys. Rev. Applied 26, 014001 – Published 1 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/yp6f-tc65

Abstract

Dynamic atom gravimeters enable absolute gravity measurements on moving platforms. However, their performance is severely degraded due to the complex dynamic environment. This paper finds that the amplitude-modulation noise (AMN) is a key factor contributing to the degradation of gravity- measurement performance. We find that the AMN is induced by the cold atomic cloud trajectory and velocity variation. We build a model to illustrate the principles and magnitude of AMN arising from various experiment processes. Then we propose a method to fit the normalized AMN with respect to the kinematic parameters of the cold atomic cloud and successfully suppress this noise from 0.11 to 0.038 using the fitting result. With this method, we improve the fringe phase resolution from 0.244 to 0.092 rad and reduce the dynamic gravity-measurement noise from 2.69 to 1.68 mGal. This study finds and suppresses a key noise source in dynamic atom gravimeters, which is useful for further improving their precision. The proposed method can also be applied for precision enhancement for other dynamic atom-interferometer-based sensors, such as atom gradiometers and gyroscopes.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (43)

  1. U. Riccardi, S. Rosat, and J. Hinderer, Comparison of the Micro-g LaCoste gPhone-054 spring gravimeter and the GWR-C026 superconducting gravimeter in Strasbourg (France) using a 300-day time series, Metrologia 48, 28 (2011).
  2. M. Van Camp, O. De Viron, A. Watlet, B. Meurers, O. Francis, and C. Caudron, Geophysics from terrestrial time–variable gravity measurements, Rev. Geophys., 55, 938 (2017).
  3. B. Cheng, P.-J. Chen, Y. Zhou, K.-N. Wang, D. Zhu, L. Chu, K.-X. Weng, H.-L. Wang, S.-P. Peng, X.-L. Wang et al., Experiment on dynamic absolute gravity measurement based on cold atom gravimeter, Acta Phys. Sin. 71, 026701 (2022).
  4. J. Guo, S. Ma, C. Zhou, J. Liu, B. Wang, D. Pan, and H. Mao, Vibration compensation for a vehicle-mounted atom gravimeter, IEEE Sensors J. 22, 12939 (2022).
  5. Y. Bidel, N. Zahzam, C. Blanchard, A. Bonnin, M. Cadoret, A. Bresson, D. Rouxel, and M. F. Lequentrec-Lalancette, Absolute marine gravimetry with matter-wave interferometry, Nat. Commun. 9, 627 (2018).
  6. G. Ge, X. Chen, J. Li, D. Zhang, M. He, W. Wang, Y. Zhou, J. Zhong, B. Tang, J. Fang et al., Accuracy improvement of a compact Rb85 atom gravimeter by suppressing laser crosstalk and light shift, Sensors 23, 6115 (2023).
  7. Z.-K. Qiao, P. Yuan, J.-J. Zhang, Z.-Y. Zhang, L.-L. Li, D. Zhu, M.-R. Jiang, H.-Y. Shi, R. Hu, F. Zhou et al., Error analysis and filtering methods for absolute ocean gravity data, IEEE Sensors J. 23, 14346 (2023).
  8. B. Wu, C. Zhang, K. Wang, B. Cheng, D. Zhu, R. Li, X. Wang, Q. Lin, Z. Qiao, and Y. Zhou, Marine absolute gravity field surveys based on cold atomic gravimeter, IEEE Sensors J. 23, 24292 (2023).
  9. Y. Zhou, W. Wang, G. Ge, J. Li, D. Zhang, M. He, B. Tang, J. Zhong, L. Zhou, R. Li, N. Mao, H. Che, L. Qian, Y. Li, F. Qin, J. Fang, X. Chen, J. Wang, and M. Zhan, High-precision atom interferometer-based dynamic gravimeter measurement by eliminating the Cross-coupling effect, Sensors 24, 1016 (2024).
  10. H. Baumann, E. E. Klingelé, and I. Marson, Absolute airborne gravimetry: A feasibility study, Geophys. Pros. 60, 361 (2012).
  11. Y. Bidel, N. Zahzam, A. Bresson, C. Blanchard, M. Cadoret, A. V. Olesen, and R. Forsberg, Absolute airborne gravimetry with a cold atom sensor, J. Geod. 94, 20 (2020).
  12. Y. Bidel, N. Zahzam, A. Bresson, C. Blanchard, A. Bonnin, J. Bernard, M. Cadoret, T. E. Jensen, R. Forsberg, C. Salaun et al., Airborne absolute gravimetry with a quantum sensor, comparison with classical technologies, JGR Solid Earth 128, e2022JB025921 (2023).
  13. P. Chen, S. Peng, J. Wang, M. Gao, X. Lv, D. Yang, Z. Jin, Y. Wang, X. Tang, B. Wu et al., An airborne design of inertial stabilized platform for cold atom gravimeter, IEEE Sensors J. 25, 13102 (2025).
  14. C. Zhai, J. Wang, J. Zhou, Y. Wang, X. Tang, Y. Zhou, C. Zhang, R. Li, Q. Shu, K. Wang et al., Airborne absolute gravity measurements based on quantum gravimeter, Acta Phys. Sin. 74, 070302 (2025).
  15. V. Ménoret, P. Vermeulen, N. Le Moigne, S. Bonvalot, P. Bouyer, A. Landragin, and B. Desruelle, Gravity measurements below 10−9  g with a transportable absolute quantum gravimeter, Sci. Rep. 8, 12300 (2018).
  16. X. Wu, Z. Pagel, B. S. Malek, T. H. Nguyen, F. Zi, D. S. Scheirer, and H. Müller, Gravity surveys using a mobile atom interferometer, Sci. Adv. 5, eaax0800 (2019).
  17. N. Shettell, K. S. Lee, F. E. Oon, E. Maksimova, C. Hufnagel, S. Wei, and R. Dumke, Geophysical survey based on hybrid gravimetry using relative measurements and an atomic gravimeter as an absolute reference, Sci. Rep. 14, 6511 (2024).
  18. C.-Y. Li, L.-K. Chen, X. Yang, Z.-Y. Xu, M.-Q. Huang, Y. Luo, Y.-H. Zhao, X.-W. Niu, Z.-W. Liu, H.-J. Yao, S. Chen, and J.-W. Pan, Drift-free continuous gravity measurement and application analysis of a high-precision atom gravimeter, Phys. Rev. Appl. 24, 014045 (2025).
  19. C. Jekeli, Navigation error analysis of atom interferometer inertial sensor, Navigation 52, 1 (2005).
  20. S. Lellouch and M. Holynski, Integration of a high-fidelity model of quantum sensors with a map-matching filter for quantum-enhanced navigation, Quantum Sci. Technol. 10, 045007 (2025).
  21. P. Gillot, O. Francis, A. Landragin, F. Pereira Dos Santos, and S. Merlet, Stability comparison of two absolute gravimeters: Optical versus atomic interferometers, Metrologia 51, L15 (2014).
  22. B. Fang, I. Dutta, P. Gillot, D. Savoie, J. Lautier, B. Cheng, C. L. Garrido Alzar, R. Geiger, S. Merlet, F. Pereira Dos Santos, and A. Landragin, Metrology with atom interferometry: Inertial sensors from laboratory to field applications, J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 723, 012049 (2016).
  23. S. Merlet, J. Le Gouët, Q. Bodart, A. Clairon, A. Landragin, F. Pereira Dos Santos, and P. Rouchon, Operating an atom interferometer beyond its linear range, Metrologia 46, 87 (2009).
  24. D. Yankelev, C. Avinadav, N. Davidson, and O. Firstenberg, Atom interferometry with thousand-fold increase in dynamic range, Sci. Adv. 6, eabd0650 (2020).
  25. J. Le Gouët, T. E. Mehlstäubler, J. Kim, S. Merlet, A. Clairon, A. Landragin, and F. Pereira Dos Santos, Limits to the sensitivity of a low noise compact atomic gravimeter, Appl. Phys. B 92, 133 (2008).
  26. J. Lautier, L. Volodimer, T. Hardin, S. Merlet, M. Lours, F. Pereira Dos Santos, and A. Landragin, Hybridizing matter-wave and classical accelerometers, Appl. Phys. Lett. 105, 144102 (2014).
  27. P. Cheiney, L. Fouché, S. Templier, F. Napolitano, B. Battelier, P. Bouyer, and B. Barrett, Navigation-compatible hybrid quantum accelerometer using a Kalman filter, Phys. Rev. Appl. 10, 034030 (2018).
  28. C. Salducci, Y. Bidel, M. Cadoret, S. Darmon, N. Zahzam, A. Bonnin, S. Schwartz, C. Blanchard, and A. Bresson, Quantum sensing of acceleration and rotation by interfering magnetically launched atoms, Sci. Adv. 10, eadq4498 (2024).
  29. M. Kasevich and S. Chu, Atomic interferometry using stimulated Raman transitions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 181 (1991).
  30. A. Peters, K. Y. Chung, and S. Chu, High-precision gravity measurements using atom interferometry, Metrologia 38, 25 (2001).
  31. C. Freier, M. Hauth, V. Schkolnik, B. Leykauf, M. Schilling, H. Wziontek, H.-G. Scherneck, J. Müller, and A. Peters, Mobile quantum gravity sensor with unprecedented stability, J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 723, 012050 (2016).
  32. P.-W. Huang, B. Tang, X. Chen, J.-Q. Zhong, Z.-Y. Xiong, L. Zhou, J. Wang, and M.-S. Zhan, Accuracy and stability evaluation of the Rb85 atom gravimeter WAG-H5-1 at the 2017 International Comparison of Absolute Gravimeters, Metrologia 56, 045012 (2019).
  33. Y.-Y. Xu, J.-F. Cui, K. Qi, L.-L. Chen, X.-B. Deng, Q. Luo, H. Zhang, Y.-J. Tan, C.-G. Shao, M.-K. Zhou, X.-C. Duan, and Z.-K. Hu, Evaluation of the transportable atom gravimeter HUST-QG, Metrologia 59, 055001 (2022).
  34. G. R. Terrell and D. W. Scott, Oversmoothed nonparametric density estimates, J. Am. Stat. Assoc. 80, 209 (1985).
  35. B. Kaczmarczuk, J. Gomes Baptista, S. Merlet, L. A. Sidorenkov, Q. Beaufils, and F. Pereira Dos Santos, Statistical analysis of the rotation induced decay of the contrast in an onboard atom interferometer, IEEE Sensors J. 25, 30889 (2025).
  36. W. Gong, A. Li, J. Luo, H. Che, J. Ma, and F. Qin, A vibration compensation approach for atom gravimeter based on improved sparrow search algorithm, IEEE Sensors J. 23, 5911 (2023).
  37. H. Che, A. Li, Z. Zhou, W. Gong, J. Ma, and F. Qin, An approach of vibration compensation for atomic gravimeter under complex vibration environment, Sensors 23, 3535 (2023).
  38. C. Huang, A. Li, F. Qin, W. Gong, H. Che, X. Chen, J. Fang, W. Wang, and Y. Zhou, A vibration correction method for shipborne atomic gravimeter based on second-order coupling acceleration transfer model, IEEE Sensors J. 24, 32368 (2024).
  39. Z.-K. Qiao, Z.-H. Shen, R. Hu, L.-L. Li, P. Yuan, G.-C. Wu, Y. Yuan, Y. Zhou, B. Wu, and Q. Lin, A vibration compensation approach for shipborne atomic gravimeter based on particle swarm optimization, Sci. Rep. 15, 8864 (2025).
  40. A. Xu, D. Kong, Z. Fu, Z. Wang, and Q. Lin, Vibration compensation of an atom gravimeter, Chin. Opt. Lett. 17, 070201 (2019).
  41. M. Guo, J. Bai, D. Hu, Z. Tang, J. You, R. Chen, and Y. Wang, A vibration correction system for cold atom gravimeter, Meas. Sci. Technol. 35, 035011 (2024).
  42. P. Cheinet, B. Canuel, F. Pereira Dos Santos, A. Gauguet, F. Yver-Leduc, and A. Landragin, Measurement of the sensitivity function in a time-domain atomic interferometer, IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. 57, 1141 (2008).
  43. E. Canuteson, M. Zumberge, and J. Hanson, An absolute method of vertical seismometer calibration by reference to a falling mass with application to the measurement of the gain, Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 87, 484 (1997).

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Applied 26, 014001– Published 1 July, 2026
  • Received 2 April 2026
  • Accepted 29 May 2026
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation