Progress toward large wave packet separation in atom interferometry

The sensitivity of a light-pulse atom interferometer scales with the spacetime area enclosed by the interferometer. One technique for increasing this area is to create large quantum superposition states by transferring many sequential photon momentum recoils to the atoms. As the wave packet separation grows, the interferometer becomes increasingly susceptible to dephasing from spatially varying forces and from optical wavefront or intensity imperfections across the atomic ensemble. In addition, long pulse sequences can reduce signal through atom loss from scattering and through imperfect transfer efficiency. We explore experimental approaches to mitigate these limitations, including improvements to the atomic source and preparation, enhanced beam properties and control, and pulse optimizations to improve robustness. These strategies enable operation in regimes of increased momentum separation while maintaining interferometric contrast and phase stability, providing a path toward atom-interferometric measurements with higher sensitivity.