The Effect of Imperfect Raman Pulses on the Atomic Interference Signal

M.M. Zhaoa, b, Y.J. Tanb, C.G. Shaob aSchool of Electronic and Information Engineering, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning Avenue 88, Xianning 437100, China bMOE Key Laboratory of Fundamental Physical Quantities Measurement & Hubei Key Laboratory of Gravitation and Quantum Physics, PGMF and School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P.R. China

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Imperfect Raman pulses can lead to the formation of multiple interfering paths and affect the output of an atom interferometer in high-precision measurement. We study the effect of the imperfect Raman pulses on the interferometric fringe contrast and the phase shift in the three-pulse atom interferometer by using the evolution operator method. Analytical expressions expanded to the second-order fluctuation of imperfect pulses are derived, in which the effect of coupling the imperfect pulses with laser detuning and pulse duration is also considered. The result indicates that the second-order fluctuation of imperfect pulses is dominant, however, it can be nearly ignored in the current requirements of atomic experiments. Even so, theoretical analysis is very necessary as it may be helpful in proposing some schemes to improve the interference efficiency for future high-precision measurements with atomic interferometry.

DOI:10.12693/APhysPolA.142.291 topics: atom interferometry, imperfect Raman pulse, fringe contrast, evolution operator