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arXiv:1203.6683 · Physical Review A

Dynamical control of matter-wave splitting using time-dependent optical lattices

Sung Jong Park, Henrik Kjaer Andersen, Sune Mai, J. Arlt, Jacob Friis Sherson

Published Mar 21, 2012• 13 citations
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Abstract

We report on measurements of splitting Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) by using a time-dependent optical lattice potential. First, we demonstrate the division of a BEC into a set of equally populated components by means of time-dependent control of Landau-Zener tunneling in a vertical lattice potential. Next, we apply time-dependent optical Bragg mirrors to a BEC oscillating in a harmonic trap. We demonstrate high-order Bragg reflection of the condensate due to multiphoton Raman transitions, where the depth of the optical lattice potential allows for a choice of the order of the transition. Finally, a combination of multiple Bragg reflections and Landau-Zener tunneling allows for the generation of macroscopic arrays of condensates with potential applications in atom optics and atom interferometry.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.85.033626

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We report on measurements of splitting Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) by using a time-dependent optical lattice potential. First, we demonstrate the division of a BEC into a set of equally populated components by means of time-dependent control of Landau-Zener tunneling in a vertical lattice potential. Next, we apply time-dependent optical Bragg mirrors to a BEC oscillating in a harmonic trap. We demonstrate high-order Bragg reflection of the condensate due to multiphoton Raman transitions, where the depth of the optical lattice potential allows for a choice of the order of the transition. Finally, a combination of multiple Bragg reflections and Landau-Zener tunneling allows for the generation of macroscopic arrays of condensates with potential applications in atom optics and atom interferometry.
We report the possibility of steering gap solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates loaded in optical lattices by means of time-dependent nonlinearities, which allow one to control in a nondestructive manner both Bloch oscillations and Landau-Zener tunneling (i.e., Rabi oscillations) across band gaps. As an example we show how to move a matter-wave soliton in real and in reciprocal space from a lower to higher bands, avoiding dynamical instabilities. This opens the possibility of experimental access to gap solitons of higher bands and forcing of soliton motion through a lattice via the Feshbach resonance technique.
We investigate the potential for controlling a noninteracting Bose-Einstein condensate loaded into a one-dimensional optical superlattice. Our control strategy combines Bloch oscillations, originating from accelerating the lattice, with time-dependent control of the superlattice parameters. We investigate two experimentally viable scenarios, very low and very high potential depths, in order to gain a better understanding of matter wave control available within the system. Multiple lattice parameters and a versatile energy band structure allow us to obtain a wide range of control over energy band populations. Finally, we consider several examples of quantum state preparation in the superlattice structure that may be difficult to achieve in a regular lattice.
A Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is a macroscopic ensemble of atoms that collectively behaves as a single quantum-mechanical object. In this thesis I describe an apparatus built to create and study a BEC, as well as initial experiments carried out using a one-dimensional optical standing wave (optical lattice) to manipulate the BEC. In the first experiment, a weak optical lattice Bragg-reflects a BEC moving in a nearly harmonic trap. The Bragg reflection combined with the harmonic trapping potential cause the BEC to oscillate, much as light oscillates in an optical cavity. In the second experiment, a deep optical lattice applied to an atom cloud for a short duration is used to split and recombine the atomic wavefunction. By doing this we can create two different types of atom interferometer: a small-separation atom interferometer which works with either a BEC or a thermal gas, and a large-separation atom interferometer which works only with a BEC and whose interferometric arms are, in principle, separately addressable. In the third experiment, an optical lattice potential is slowly turned on. Under the influence of this lattice potential, the BEC loses its superfluid properties, but fully regains them when the lattice is turned back off. This behavior is consistent both with a reversible transition to a 1-D Mott insulator state and with mean-field effects in a deep lattice; both interpretations are discussed. In the latter part of this thesis I describe an apparatus designed to accommodate experiments involving both a BEC and an ion. The interactions between an ion and a BEC have never before been experimentally investigated. Our apparatus includes both the means to localize an ion by actively shielding against stray electric fields and to spatially image ions. This should allow future experiments in which a single ion is embedded in a BEC. In addition to imaging ions, the apparatus provides the capability to create high-resolution images of distributions of neutral atoms by photoionizing them and then quickly imaging them. I conclude the thesis with a discussion of future experiments exploring ion-BEC interactions.
We have loaded Bose-Einstein condensates into one-dimensional, off-resonant optical lattices and accelerated them by chirping the frequency difference between the two lattice beams. For small values of the lattice well-depth, Bloch oscillations were observed. Landau-Zener tunneling out of the lowest lattice band, leading to a breakdown of the oscillations, was also studied. In order to allow in-trap measurements of these phenomena, we dynamically compensated for the intrinsic micromotion of the atoms in our time-orbiting potential trap.
We study the dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates in an optical lattice and harmonic trap. The condensates are set in motion by displacing the trap and initially follow simple semiclassical paths, shaped by the lowest energy band. Above a critical displacement, the condensate undergoes Bragg reflection. For high atom densities, the first Bragg reflection generates a train of solitons and vortices, which destabilize the condensate and trigger explosive expansion. At lower densities, soliton and vortex formation requires multiple Bragg reflections, and damps the center-of-mass motion.