A Flight Capable Atomic Gravity Gradiometer With a Single Laser

Here we present an atom interferometer which will measure vertical gravity gradients using a single laser diode, while mounted on an 6-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). We will measure gravity gradients by ellipse-fitting the phases from two identical, vertically displaced interferometers in the same vacuum chamber with common Raman lasers and trapping beam. Each interferometer will have a baseline of $T=150$ ms, displaced $1$ m relative to each other. We propose a novel mechanism to generate two magneto-optical traps (MOTs) with a single incoming beam using a diffraction grating inspired by previous grating MOTs. The entire science payload, including vacuum chamber, optics, and all control electronics, is budgeted to weigh $<70$ kg, and the aircraft is rated to carry $110$ kg for 30 minutes.