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Physical Review Letters

Bloch Oscillations of Atoms in an Optical Potential

Maxime Dahan, E. Peik, Jakob Reichel, Yvan Castin, Christophe Salomon

Published Jun 10, 1996• 958 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Ultracold cesium atoms are prepared in the ground energy band of the potential induced by an optical standing wave. We observe Bloch oscillations of the atoms driven by a constant inertial force. We measure the momentum distribution of Bloch states and effective masses different from the mass of the free atom.
DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.76.4508

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