Scientific Reports (Nov 2022)

Cold-atom sources for the Matter-wave laser Interferometric Gravitation Antenna (MIGA)

  • Quentin Beaufils,
  • Leonid A. Sidorenkov,
  • Pierre Lebegue,
  • Bertrand Venon,
  • David Holleville,
  • Laurent Volodimer,
  • Michel Lours,
  • Joseph Junca,
  • Xinhao Zou,
  • Andrea Bertoldi,
  • Marco Prevedelli,
  • Dylan O. Sabulsky,
  • Philippe Bouyer,
  • Arnaud Landragin,
  • Benjamin Canuel,
  • Remi Geiger

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23468-3
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

Read online

Abstract The Matter-wave laser Interferometric Gravitation Antenna (MIGA) is an underground instrument using cold-atom interferometry to perform precision measurements of gravity gradients and strains. Following its installation at the low noise underground laboratory LSBB in the South-East of France, it will serve as a prototype for gravitational wave detectors with a horizontal baseline of 150 meters. Three spatially separated cold-atom interferometers will be driven by two common counter-propagating lasers to perform a measurement of the gravity gradient along this baseline. This article presents the cold-atom sources of MIGA, focusing on the design choices, the realization of the systems, the performances and the integration within the MIGA instrument.