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arXiv:2202.00562 · Physical Review X

Observation of Light-Induced Dipole-Dipole Forces in Ultracold Atomic Gases

Mira Maiwöger, Matthias Sonnleitner, Tiantian Zhang, I. E. Mazets, Marion Mallweger, Dennis Rätzel, Filippo Borselli, Sebastian Erne, Jörg Schmiedmayer, Philipp Haslinger

Published Jul 27, 2022• 7 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Light-matter interaction is well understood on the single-atom level and routinely used to manipulate atomic gases.However, in denser ensembles, collective effects emerge that are caused by light-induced dipole-dipole interactions and multiple photon scattering.Here, we report on the observation of a mechanical deformation of a cloud of ultracold 87 Rb atoms due to the collective interplay of the atoms and a homogenous light field.This collective light scattering results in a self-confining potential with interesting features: It exhibits nonlocal properties, is attractive for both red-and blue-detuned light fields, and induces a remarkably strong force that depends on the gradient of the atomic density.Our experimental observations are discussed in the framework of a theoretical model based on a local-field approach for the light scattered by the atomic cloud.Our study provides a new angle on light propagation in highdensity ensembles and expands the range of tools available for tailoring interactions in ultracold atomic gases.

DOI
10.1103/physrevx.12.031018

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Light-matter interaction is well understood on the single-atom level and routinely used to manipulate atomic gases.However, in denser ensembles, collective effects emerge that are caused by light-induced dipole-dipole interactions and multiple photon scattering.Here, we report on the observation of a mechanical deformation of a cloud of ultracold 87 Rb atoms due to the collective interplay of the atoms and a homogenous light field.This collective light scattering results in a self-confining potential with interesting features: It exhibits nonlocal properties, is attractive for both red-and blue-detuned light fields, and induces a remarkably strong force that depends on the gradient of the atomic density.Our experimental observations are discussed in the framework of a theoretical model based on a local-field approach for the light scattered by the atomic cloud.Our study provides a new angle on light propagation in highdensity ensembles and expands the range of tools available for tailoring interactions in ultracold atomic gases.
We study the emergence of a collective optical response of a cold and dense 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb atomic cloud to a near-resonant low-intensity light when the atom number is gradually increased. Experimental observations are compared with microscopic stochastic simulations of recurrent scattering processes between the atoms that incorporate the atomic multilevel structure and the optical measurement setup. We analyze the optical response of an inhomogeneously broadened gas and find that the experimental observations of the resonance line shifts and the total collected scattered light intensity in cold atom clouds substantially deviate from those of thermal atomic ensembles, indicating strong light-induced resonant dipole-dipole interactions between the atoms. At high densities, the simulations also predict a significantly slower decay of light-induced excitations in cold than in thermal atom clouds. The role of dipole-dipole interactions is discussed in terms of resonant coupling examples and the collective radiative excitation eigenmodes of the system.
Summary form only given. A distinguishing feature of Bose-Einstein condensates in trapped atomic gases is the ability to manipulate them with laser light. This is a tool which is not available for the study of liquid helium. In this work, we use the mechanical forces exerted by light on atoms to create and study collective excitations. We can apply either repulsive or attractive forces locally to a Bose-Einstein condensed gas with scanning, focused laser beams tuned to the blue or to the red of the principal atomic resonance, respectively. With spatio-temporal control of the forces, we have studied dissipation in the condensate as well as creating collective excitations with a controllable symmetry and time dependence.
We report the observation of optomechanical strain applied to thermal and quantum degenerate ^{87}Rb atomic clouds when illuminated by an intense, far detuned homogeneous laser beam. In this regime the atomic cloud acts as a lens that focuses the laser beam. As a backaction, the atoms experience a force opposite to the beam deflection, which depends on the atomic cloud density profile. We experimentally demonstrate the basic features of this force, distinguishing it from the well-established scattering and dipole forces. The observed strain saturates, ultimately limiting the momentum impulse that can be transferred to the atoms. This optomechanical force may effectively induce interparticle interactions, which can be optically tuned.
Light propagation in disordered media is a fundamental and important problem in optics and photonics. In particular, engineering light-matter interaction in disordered cold atomic ensembles is one of the central topics in modern quantum and atomic optics. The collective response of dense atomic gases under light excitation, which crucially depends on the spatial distribution of atoms and the geometry of the ensemble, has important impacts on quantum technologies like quantum sensors, atomic clocks and quantum information storage. Here we analyze near-resonant light transmission in two-dimensional dense ultracold atomic ensembles with short-range positional correlations. Based on the coupled-dipole simulations under different atom number densities and correlation lengths, we show that the collective effects are strongly influenced by those positional correlations, manifested as significant shifts and broadening or narrowing of transmission resonance lines. We also analyze the eigenstate distribution of different atomic ensembles. This work may provide profound implications on collective and cooperative effects in cold atomic ensembles as well as the study of mesoscopic physics concerning light transport in strongly scattering disorder media.
We discuss the formation of optomechanical structures from the interaction between linear dielectric scatterers and a light field via dipole forces without the need for optical nonlinearities. The experiment uses a high density sample of Rb atoms in a single mirror feedback geometry. We observe hexagonal structures in the light field and a complementary honeycomb pattern in the atomic density. Different theoretical approaches are discussed assuming either viscous damping of the atomic velocity or not. The interplay between electronic and optomechanical nonlinearities is analyzed. A prediction for dissipative light - matter density solitons is given. The investigations demonstrate novel prospects for the manipulation of matter in a pattern forming system in which quantum effects should be accessible.
The main objective of this research is to study a particular case of light-matter interaction: the scattering of light in dense atomic samples.The regime of high atomic densities is represented by samples where the distance between neighboring atoms is on the order of the wavelength associated with the atomic transition.In this regime, short-range atomic interactions cannot be neglected, and in these systems, we expect to observe significant modifications in collective effects such as subradiance or superradiance.Overall, the propagation of light through this type of system is not well-known to the scientific community, and the existing models work to describe very specific situations.To pave the way for achieving our overall goal, this work proposes an experimental setup to obtain a dense cloud of 88 Sr, which is the chemical species we work with in our laboratory.For this purpose, atoms previously trapped using a Magneto-Optical Trap are transferred to a Crossed Optical Dipole Trap.During the optimization and characterization of the optical trap, problems were encountered in producing an image with quantitative information of the atomic ensemble and in transferring a large number of atoms in a very small trapping volume.These problems were resolved with the implementation of a Phase Contrast Imaging system and the implementation of an Optical Molasses as an additional cooling step.Under these conditions, we obtained a cloud that can be suitable for conducting studies on collective effects, transitioning from the dilute to the dense regime.The initial experiments, once our atomic ensemble was prepared, involve measuring the coherent transmission of a low-intensity beam through the cloud.For this purpose, incident light near the resonance of a dipolar transition of the type J = 0 ↔ J = 1 of 88 Sr is used, interacting with a homogeneous region of the sample.Simulations of this type of process can be performed using the Coupled Dipole Model, which describes the overall response of light scattering by the sample considering dipole-dipole interactions mediated by light.With this work, we aim to advance the understanding of density effects by comparing the coherent optical response of the dense cloud with the theory based on the Coupled Dipole Model.