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Quasi-Bragg diffraction of atoms

K.F.E.M. Domen, Mahm Maarten Jansen, van Kah Ton Leeuwen

Published Jan 1, 2006• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We report on a novel atomic beamsplitter. It combines the advantages of Bragg scattering (transfer possible into a single, very high diffraction order due to adiabatic conservation of ‘transverse kinetic energy’) with the convenience of tuning the splitting angle simply by adjusting a magnetic field. It also offers the added flexibility of a three-port beamsplitter. Our configuration consists of a quasi-standing light wave with +-- polarization configuration and a transverse magnetic field. The incoming metastable (3P1) helium atoms intersect the light wave perpendicularly. Adiabatic transfer to a single diffraction order can be achieved by, e.g., starting with atoms in the M = 1, p = 0 substate (p denoting the transverse momentum) and tuning the magnetic field such that the energy of the M = 0, p = ±2n¯hk substates (with n the diffraction order and k the wavenumber of the light) is equal to the energyof the initial state. We have experimentally demonstrated quasi-Bragg scattering up to 8th order, confirmed the magnetic tunability, and compared our results with numerical simulations.

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We report on a novel atomic beamsplitter. It combines the advantages of Bragg scattering (transfer possible into a single, very high diffraction order due to adiabatic conservation of ‘transverse kinetic energy’) with the convenience of tuning the splitting angle simply by adjusting a magnetic field. It also offers the added flexibility of a three-port beamsplitter. Our configuration consists of a quasi-standing light wave with +-- polarization configuration and a transverse magnetic field. The incoming metastable (3P1) helium atoms intersect the light wave perpendicularly. Adiabatic transfer to a single diffraction order can be achieved by, e.g., starting with atoms in the M = 1, p = 0 substate (p denoting the transverse momentum) and tuning the magnetic field such that the energy of the M = 0, p = ±2n¯hk substates (with n the diffraction order and k the wavenumber of the light) is equal to the energyof the initial state. We have experimentally demonstrated quasi-Bragg scattering up to 8th order, confirmed the magnetic tunability, and compared our results with numerical simulations.
We have used a new technique to construct a clean, large-angle, coherent atomic beam splitter with an easily adjustable splitting angle. Helium atoms in the J=1 metastable state diffract from a far-detuned light field with ‘corkscrew’ polarization in the presence of a homogeneous magnetic field. Adiabatic transfer from magnetic energy to ‘transverse kinetic energy’ then allows symmetric diffraction of the incoming beam in a single, high diffraction order with a different value of M. The order is set by the value of the magnetic field. The result is a flexible, adjustable, large-angle, three-way atomic beam splitter for atom interferometry.
We report on a technique to split an atomic beam coherently with an easily adjustable splitting angle. In our experiment metastable helium atoms in the ∣1s2s3S1M=1⟩|{1s2s}{^{3}S}_{1}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}M=1⟩∣1s2s3S1​M=1⟩ state diffract from a polarization gradient light field formed by counterpropagating ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}^{+}$ and ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ polarized laser beams in the presence of a homogeneous magnetic field. In the near-adiabatic regime, energy conservation allows the resonant exchange between magnetic energy and kinetic energy. As a consequence, symmetric diffraction of ∣M=0⟩|M=0⟩∣M=0⟩ or $|M=\ensuremath{-}1⟩$ atoms in a single order is achieved, where the order can be chosen freely by tuning the magnetic field. We present experimental results up to sixth-order diffraction ($24\ensuremath{\hbar}k$ momentum splitting, i.e., 2.21 m/s in transverse velocity) and present a simple theoretical model that stresses the similarity with conventional Bragg scattering. The resulting device constitutes a flexible, adjustable, large-angle, three-way coherent atomic beam splitter with many potential applications in atom optics and atom interferometry.
We report an experimental demonstration of diffraction of He∗{\mathrm{He}}^{\mathrm{*}}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 42\ensuremath{\Elzxh}k. 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.
We study up to the sixth order of Bragg deflection of metastable neon atoms from a standing light wave, corresponding to a momentum transfer of 12\ensuremath{\Elzxh}k. We derive an analytical result for the scattering probability, suitable for arbitrarily high Bragg order, and demonstrate its agreement with experimental results. We investigate the effect of velocity distribution on the Bragg process and show that overlapping diffraction orders can be resolved in velocity space. The prospect of using Bragg scattering as the optics in a Mach-Zehnder style atom interferometer with large splitting is discussed.
We present the experimental implementation of double Bragg diffraction of Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) as proposed in [E. Giese, A. Roura, G. Tackmann, E. M. Rasel, and W. P. Schleich, Phys. Rev. A \textbf{88}, 053608 (2013)]. We excite Rabi oscillations between the three coupled momentum states ∣0ℏk⟩\left| 0 \hbar k \right\rangle∣0ℏk⟩ and ∣±2ℏk⟩\left| \pm 2 \hbar k \right\rangle∣±2ℏk⟩. By selecting appropriate interaction times we generate highly efficient beamsplitters and mirrors for Bose-Einstein condensates. In addition, we demonstrate higher-order double Bragg diffraction and display beamsplitters with up to $ \pm 6 \hbar k$ momentum transfer. We compare double Bragg diffraction to several other experimental realizations of beamsplitters. Finally, we show that double Bragg diffraction is well suited for matter wave interferometry by realizing a Ramsey-type interferometer in a quasi one-dimensional waveguide.
Using a ``monochromatic'' (single-axial-velocity) and slow (250 m/s) beam of metastable helium atoms, we realize up to eighth-order Bragg scattering and obtain a splitting angle of 6 mrad at low laser power (3 mW). This corresponds to a truly macroscopic separation of 12 mm on the detector. For fifth-order scattering, we have observed several oscillations of the splitting ratio when varying the laser power (``Pendell\"osung oscillations''). The large splitting angle, the adjustable splitting ratio, and the cleanness of the split beams, with $200\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$ rms width each, make the beam splitter ideal for a large-enclosed-area atom interferometer.