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Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Deflection and splitting of atomic beams with counterpropagating, short, chirped laser pulses

G. Demeter, Gagik P. Djotyan, Jozsef S. Bakos

Published Jan 1, 1998• 10 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The application of counterpropagating, short, chirped laser pulses for the deflection and splitting of an atomic beam is investigated. A simple model is proposed to describe the case in which the pulses induce population transfer in the adiabatic-passage regime and in which the effects of spontaneous emission are negligible during the action of a single laser pulse. Spontaneous emission between the pulses is not neglected, however, and it is shown that it has a significant effect on the evolution of the average transversal velocity of the atoms, as well as the dispersion of the transversal velocity.

DOI
10.1364/josab.15.000016

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The application of counterpropagating, short, chirped laser pulses for the deflection and splitting of an atomic beam is investigated. A simple model is proposed to describe the case in which the pulses induce population transfer in the adiabatic-passage regime and in which the effects of spontaneous emission are negligible during the action of a single laser pulse. Spontaneous emission between the pulses is not neglected, however, and it is shown that it has a significant effect on the evolution of the average transversal velocity of the atoms, as well as the dispersion of the transversal velocity.
We study the force exerted on two-level atoms by short, counterpropagating laser pulses. When the counterpropagating pulses overlap each other partially, multiphoton adiabatic processes are possible in several configurations, which amplify the force exerted on the atoms. We investigate the practical usefulness of such multiphoton adiabatic transitions for the manipulation of the atoms' mechanical state. In particular, we compare the efficiency of a pair of constant frequency, oppositely detuned laser pulses and that of a pair of frequency-chirped pulses. We also consider the case of prolonged exposure to a sequence of laser pulses for a duration that is comparable to or much larger than the spontaneous lifetime of the atoms. We use numerical methods to calculate the reduction of the force and the heating of the atomic ensemble when spontaneous emission cannot be neglected during the interaction. In addition, we derive simple approximate formulas for the force and the heating, and compare them to the numerical results.
We discuss the mechanical momentum transfer to two-level atoms by a pair of short, counterpropagating, frequency-chirped laser pulses, which partially overlap each other in the atomic medium. We show that such a pulse pair can induce a much greater change of momentum than pulses that do not overlap (interact separately with the atoms). The dispersive effect on the atomic velocity distribution is shown to be much smaller for the case of overlapping pulses. Furthermore, there are regimes where the method is not sensitive to the exact values of the pulse parameters or the initial velocity distribution. The interaction can be repeated for a cumulative effect, so a sequence of such pulse pairs can be used very effectively to manipulate the mechanical motion of atoms.
We study atomic-beam deflection by adiabatic passage between Zeeman ground levels via Raman transitions induced by counterpropagating ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\sigma}}}^{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}$-polarized lasers. We show that complete population transfer between the ground states can be achieved, which corresponds to the scattering of the atomic wave packet into a single final momentum state by absorption and induced emission of laser photons. Although the lasers can be resonant, the excited state(s) are never populated during the adiabatic transfer, which suppresses the effects of spontaneous emission and preserves the coherence of the atomic wave function. This scheme has attractive features as a beam splitter and mirror for atomic interferometry.
Abstract This study demonstrates complete adiabatic population transfer in a closed three-level atomic system using chirped laser pulses. By satisfying the three-photon resonance condition, we effectively mitigate the first-order Doppler effect. Under the assumption of weak coupling between the stable levels, we show that relative phase fluctuations of the lasers exert a negligible influence on the population dynamics during the transfer process. A comprehensive analysis of the system parameters is conducted to determine the optimal conditions for achieving 100% population transfer while minimizing the excited state population
We describe a technique for creating superpositions of degenerate quantum states, such as are needed for beam splitters used in matter-wave optics, by manipulating the timing of three orthogonally polarized laser beams through which moving atoms (or molecules) pass; motion across the laser beams produces pulses in the atomic rest frame. As illustrated with representative simulations for transitions in metastable neon, a single pass through three overlapping laser beams can produce superpositions (with preselected phase) of atomic beams differing by transverse momentum corresponding to the momentum of four photons. Like the two-photon momentum transfer of the tripod linkage pattern which it extends, the method relies on controlled adiabatic time evolution in the Hilbert subspace of two degenerate dark states. It is thus a generalization to multiple dark states (and larger transfers of linear momentum to the atomic beam) of the single dark state occurring with the stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) technique, and therefore it is potentially insensitive to decoherence due to spontaneous emission. By extending the tripod-linkage system to more numerous degenerate states, the technique not only increases the atomic beam deflections but, as we demonstrate, allows control over the superposition phase and amplitudes. LIke other techniques based on adiabatic time evolution, the technique is robust with respect to variations of the intensity, timing, and other characteristics of the laser fields. Unlike STIRAP, the same robust partial population transfer occurs for opposite timings of the pulse sequence, as is needed for such procedures as Hadamard gates.