On-chip trapped ultracold atom sensor allowing rotational velocity to be measured

An ultra-cold atom sensor for measuring a rotational velocity along a measurement axis, said sensor comprising:

• an electronic chip positioned in a vacuum chamber and including a measurement plane normal to said measurement axis;
• an atom source arranged so as to generate a cloud of ultra-cold atoms close to said measurement plane;
• an electromagnetic wave emitter designed to initialize the internal states of said ultra-cold atoms at a superposition of internal states |a> and |b>;
• means designed to generate a first and a second ultra-cold atom trap, one trap making it possible to immobilize a cloud of ultra-cold atoms in an internal state different from the other trap, at a predetermined distance from said measurement plane, said means comprising:
• at least one first and one second waveguide that are designed to propagate microwaves with angular frequencies ωa and ωb, said waveguides being non-secant and positioned symmetrically about an axis called the axis of symmetry Sy,
• conductive wires integrated into said chip and designed to be flowed through by DC currents, distributed into a first set comprising at least one conductive wire, and a second set comprising a plurality of n conductive wires that are parallel with one another and not parallel with the said axis of symmetry Sy,
• said sets being arranged such that the at least one conductive wire of the first set is not parallel with the conductive wires of the second set, defining n points of intersection between any one conductive wire of the first set and one or more conductive wires of the second set, said n points of intersection between the any one conductive wire of the first set and the one or more conductive wires of the second set being located on the axis of symmetry Sy,
• a homogeneous magnetic field generator,
• an optical intensity detection system designed to measure at least one population of said ultra-cold atoms in one said internal state;
• at least one processor, at least one DC current or voltage generator designed to control electric currents in said conductive wires, and at least one microwave current or voltage generator connected to said waveguides,
• said means being configured to modify the energy of said ultra-cold atoms in such a way as to create a potential minimum for the ultra-cold atoms in the internal state |a> and a potential minimum for the ultra-cold atoms in the internal state |b>, thus forming said first and second ultra-cold atom traps, and to move said traps along a closed path, traveled in one direction by the ultra-cold atoms of the first trap and in the opposite direction by the ultra-cold atoms of the second trap.