Cold atom sensors such as clocks or gravimeters derive their high sensitivity from the possibility of observing atoms over durations of the order of a second. However, these devices were unable to sample signals that varied faster than the second. A team of researchers from the Laboratoire systèmes de référence temps-espace (SYRTE, CNRS/Observatoire de Paris/PSL Université Paris/Sorbonne Université) has demonstrated a method to exceed this limit and to combine high sensitivity and high measurement rate. This method has made possible to go beyond the state of the art of atomic gyroscopes and represents a key step for applications in inertial navigation, geoscience and fundamental physics.

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