15 Fakultätsübergreifend / Sonstige Einrichtung
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://elib.uni-stuttgart.de/handle/11682/16
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Item Open Access Atomic beam splitters based on light(1993) Adams, Charles S.; Pfau, Tilman; Mlynek, JürgenIn this paper we review techniques to coherently split an atomic beam using the dipole force. We discuss the interaction of atoms with normal standing wave light field in the context of atomic beam splitters. The case where the atom enters the standing wave at a small angle such that Bragg diffraction and velocity selective resonances are observed is also considered. An alternative approach to realize a coherent beam splitter based on the optical Stem-Gerlach effect is discussed. Finally we consider the interaction of atoms with a magneto-optical potential formed by a polarization gradient light field and a static magnetic field. We show that the Stem-Gerlach effect and the magneto-optical potential produce a more effective beam splitting into states with high tranverse momentum than diffraction from a normal standing wave.Item Open Access Diffraction of atoms from optical potentials(1994) Pfau, Tilman; Schnetz, Andreas; Adams, Charles S.; Kurtsiefer, Christian; Sigel, Martin; Mlynek, JürgenIn the first part of this article we attempt to provide a very brief introduction to atom optics. In the second part we report on a recent experiment in our group on an atom-optical element that may be useful in atom interferometers and atom cavities: the demonstration of a new beam splitter based on the diffraction of atomic matter waves from a "magneto-optical grating".Item Open Access Interactions of atoms with a magneto-optical potential(1993) Adams, Charles S.; Pfau, Tilman; Kurtsiefer, Christian; Mlynek, JürgenA theoretical study of the coherent interaction of multilevel atoms with a magneto-optical potential is presented. The potential is formed by counterpropagating linearly polarized laser beams whose polarization vectors intersect at an angle cphi and a static magnetic field applied parallel to the laser propagation direction. For a particular ratio of the light and magnetic field amplitudes, the light shift at positions of purely circularly polarized light is equal to the Zeeman splitting. In this case, for a three-level atom, one of the eigenvalues has a triangular spatial form. The diffraction of atoms from this triangular phase grating is an efficient beam splitter. The splitting is symmetric for cphi=90° and asymmetric for cphi<90°. In addition we show that at well-defined positions in the light field, the atom undergoes nonadiabatic transitions and thus by using state-selective detection, one could observe an interference pattern produced by an array of double slits.Item Open Access Magneto-optical beam splitter for atoms(1993) Pfau, Tilman; Kurtsiefer, Christian; Adams, Charles S.; Sigel, Martin; Mlynek, JürgenWe report an experimental demonstration of diffraction of He* atoms from a magneto-optical grating. The grating was produced by the interaction of three-level atoms with a light field of spatially varying polarization and a magnetic field. For a light shift matched to the Zeeman shift, a two-peaked diffraction pattern was observed, corresponding to a momentum splitting of 42ħk. The effect of changing the polarizations of the light field was investigated. The diffraction from the magneto-optical grating is compared directly with the diffraction of two-level atoms from a standing light wave and it is shown, that the magneto-optical interaction leads to more efficient coupling into high order momentum states.Item Open Access Optical elements for atoms : a beamsplitter and a mirror(1993) Sigel, Martin; Pfau, Tilman; Adams, Charles S.; Kurtsiefer, Christian; Seifert, Werner; Heine, Claus; Mlynek, Jürgen; Kaiser, Robin; Aspect, AlainIn the first part of this article we attempt to provide a very brief introduction to atom optics. In the second and third part we report on recent experiments in our group on two specific atom-optical elements that may be useful in atom interferometers and atom cavities: the demonstration of a new beam splitter based on the diffraction of atomic matter waves from a "magneto-optical grating" and the investigation of a mirror based on the reflection of atoms from an evanescent light field.Item Open Access Proposal for a magneto-optical beam splitter for atoms(1993) Pfau, Tilman; Adams, Charles S.; Mlynek, JürgenIn this letter we present a theoretical study of the coherent diffraction of three-level atoms from a light field with a polarization gradient (counterpropagating crossed linearly polarized beams) and a static magnetic field applied parallel to the laser propagation direction. We show that for a particular ratio of the laser field intensity and the magnetic-field strength, there occurs a resonance between the Larmor precession of the magnetic alignment and the Rabi oscillations. On resonance the atomic wave function is diffracted by an approximately triangular optical potential which leads to a very efficient coherent splitting of the atomic beam. The proposed configuration is particularly interesting in relation to atom interferometry, when efficient coherent beam splitters for atoms are required.