Large momentum transfer atomic interferometric gyroscope

Atom interferometry~holds out significant promise as the basis for compact, low cost, high performance inertial sensing.~ Some light pulse atom interferometers are based on an atomic beam-splitter in which the interferometer paths separate at the velocity imparted by a two-photon (Raman) recoil event, resulting in narrow path separation and a corresponding high aspect ratio between the length and width of the interferometer.~ In contrast, proposals for large momentum transfer (LMT) offer paths to larger separation between interferometer arms, and aspect ratios approaching 1.~ Here, we demonstrate an LMT gyroscope based on a combination of~Bragg and Bloch atomic transitions adding up to a total of 8 photons of momentum transfer.~ We discuss prospects for scalability to larger photon numbers where angular random walk (ARW) can be better than navigation-grade.