We present the full evaluation of a cold atom gyroscope based on atom interferometry. We have performed extensive studies to determine the systematic errors, scale factor and sensitivity. We demonstrate that the acceleration noise can be efficiently
removed from the rotation signal allowing to reach the fundamental limit of the quantum projection noise for short term measurements. The technical limits to the long term sensitivity and accuracy have been identified, clearing the way for the next generations of ultra-sensitive atom gyroscopes.
We study the influence of off-resonant two photon transitions on high precision measurements with atom interferometers based on stimulated Raman transitions. These resonances induce a two photon light shift on the resonant Raman condition. The impact
of this effect is investigated in two highly sensitive experiments: a gravimeter and a gyroscope-accelerometer. We show that it can lead to significant systematic phase shifts, which have to be taken into account in order to achieve best performances in term of accuracy and stability.
