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arXiv:0810.5690 · Physical Review A

Rayleigh superradiance and dynamic Bragg gratings in an end-pumped Bose-Einstein condensate

Andrew J. Hilliard, Franziska Kaminski, Rodolphe Le Targat, Christina B. Olausson, Eugene Simon Polzik, Jörg Helge Müller

Published Nov 18, 2008• 38 citations
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Abstract

We study superradiant Rayleigh scattering from a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a parameter regime where pump depletion and the exchange of photons between the end-fire modes are important. Through experiments and simulations, we show that collective atom-light coupling leads to the self-organized formation of dynamic Bragg gratings within the sample. These gratings lead to an efficient backscattering of pump photons and optical resonator structures within the BEC.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.78.051403

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We study superradiant Rayleigh scattering from a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a parameter regime where pump depletion and the exchange of photons between the end-fire modes are important. Through experiments and simulations, we show that collective atom-light coupling leads to the self-organized formation of dynamic Bragg gratings within the sample. These gratings lead to an efficient backscattering of pump photons and optical resonator structures within the BEC.
Due to its coherence properties and high optical depth, a Bose–Einstein condensate [BEC] provides an ideal setting to investigate collective atom-light interactions. Superradiant light scattering [SLS] in a BEC is a fascinating example of such an interaction. It is an analogous process to Dicke superradiance, in which an electronically inverted sample decays collectively, leading to the emission of one or more light pulses in a well-defined direction. Through time-resolved measurements of the superradiant light pulses emitted by an end-pumped BEC, we study the close connection of SLS with Dicke superradiance. A 1D model of the system yields good agreement with the experimental data and shows that the dynamics result from the structures that build up in the light and matter-wave fields along the BEC. This paves the way for exploiting the atom–photon correlations generated by the superradiance.
We present the results of an experiment on light scattering from an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) interacting with a far-off-resonant pump laser. By collective atomic recoil lasing (CARL) a coherent superposition of two atomic wave packets with different momenta is created. Varying the intensity of a weak counterpropagating laser beam we observe the transition from the pure superradiant regime to the Bragg scattering regime, where Rabi oscillations in a two-level system are observed. The process is limited by the decoherence between the two atomic wave packets. In the superradiant regime the experiment gives evidence of a contribution to decoherence which depends on the initial velocity of the condensate. The system is described by the CARL-BEC model, which is a generalization of the Gross-Pitaevskii model to include the self-consistent evolution of the scattered field and a phase-diffusion decoherence process, which accounts for the observed damping.
We present the results of an experiment on superradiant Rayleigh scattering from a moving Bose-Einstein condensate, where a superposition of two atomic wavepackets is created by the interaction of a far-detuned laser beam with the condensate. The system is described by the CARL-BEC model which is a generalization of the Gross-Pitaevskii model to include the self-consistent evolution of the scattered field. The experiment gives evidence of a damping of the matter-wave grating which depends on the initial velocity of the condensate. We describe this damping in terms of a phase-diffusion decoherence process, in good agreement with the experimental results. In a second experiment we add a seeding beam counterpropagating with respect to the pump beam. Varying intensity and frequency of the seed, we investigate the transition from the superradiant regime to the Rabi oscillations regime, evidencing fundamental differences between these two processes.
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In a recent MIT experiment, a new form of superradiant Rayleigh scattering was observed in Bose-Einstein condensates. We present a detailed theory of this phenomenon in which condensate depletion leads to mode competition, which, together with the directional dependence of the scattering rate, is ultimately responsible for the observed phenomena. The nonlinear response of the system is shown to be highly sensitive to initial quantum fluctuations which cause large run to run variations in the observed superradiant pulses.