Tailored generation of quantum states in an entangled spinor interferometer to overcome detection noise

We theoretically investigate how entangled atomic states generated via spin-changing collisions in a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate can be designed and controllably prepared for atom interferometry that is robust against common technical issues, such as limited detector resolution. We use analytic and numerical treatments of the spin-changing collision process to demonstrate that triggering the entangling collisions with a small classical seed rather than vacuum fluctuations leads to a more robust and superior sensitivity when technical noise is accounted for, despite the generated atomic state ideally featuring less metrologically useful entanglement. Our results are relevant for understanding how entangled atomic states are best designed and generated for use in quantum-enhanced matter-wave interferometry.