Efficient broadband Raman pulses for large-area atom interferometry

We report a demonstration of composite Raman pulses that achieve broadband population inversion and are used to increase the momentum splitting of an atom interferometer up to 18hk (corresponding to an increase in the inertial signal by a factor of nine). Composite Raman pulses suppress the effects of pulse length and detuning errors, providing higher transfer efficiency and velocity acceptance than single square pulses. We implement two composite pulse sequences, capital pi /2 sub(0 degree ) -- capital pi / sub(90 degree ) -- capital pi /2 sub(0 degree ) and capital pi /2 sub(0 degree ) -- capital pi / sub(180 degree ) -- 3 capital pi /2 sub(0 degree ), and use the latter composite pulse to demonstrate large-area atom interferometry with stimulated Raman transitions. In addition to enabling larger momentum transfer and higher sensitivity, we argue that composite pulses can improve the robustness of atom interferometers operating in dynamic environments.