Biselective Pulses For Large-Area Atom Interferometry

We present designs for the augmentation "mirror" pulses of large-momentum-transfer atom interferometers that maintain their fidelity as the wave-packet momentum difference is increased. These biselective pulses, tailored using optimal control methods to the evolving bimodal momentum distribution, should allow greater interferometer areas and hence increased inertial measurement sensitivity, without requiring elevated Rabi frequencies or extended frequency chirps. Using an experimentally validated model, we have simulated the application of our pulse designs to large-momentum-transfer atom interferometry using stimulated Raman transitions in a laser-cooled atomic sample of Rb-85 at 1 mu K. After the wave packets have separated by 42 photon recoil momenta, our pulses maintain a fringe contrast of 90%, whereas, for adiabatic rapid passage and conventional p pulses, the contrast is less than 10%. Furthermore, we show how these pulses may be adapted to be robust to laser intensity variations between pulses and to suppress the detrimental off-resonant excitation that limits other broadband pulse schemes.