Improving cold-atom sensors with quantum entanglement: Prospects and challenges

Stuart S. Szigeti*, Onur Hosten*, Simon A. Haine*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    30 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Quantum entanglement has been generated and verified in cold-atom experiments and used to make atom-interferometric measurements below the shot-noise limit. However, current state-of-the-art cold-atom devices exploit separable (i.e., unentangled) atomic states. This perspective piece asks the question: can entanglement usefully improve cold-atom sensors, in the sense that it gives new sensing capabilities unachievable with current state-of-the-art devices? We briefly review the state-of-the-art in precision cold-atom sensing, focusing on clocks and inertial sensors, identifying the potential benefits entanglement could bring to these devices, and the challenges that need to be overcome to realize these benefits. We survey demonstrated methods of generating metrologically useful entanglement in cold-atom systems, note their relative strengths and weaknesses, and assess their prospects for near-to-medium term quantum-enhanced cold-atom sensing.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number140501
    JournalApplied Physics Letters
    Volume118
    Issue number14
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 5 Apr 2021

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