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Physical Review A

Atom interference in a gray optical lattice

Natalya V. Morrow, Georg A. Raithel

Published Nov 24, 2004• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Atomic wave packets are coherently split into two components evolving on different adiabatic potentials of a near-resonant gray optical lattice. The components follow separated paths and overlap periodically. Wave-packet interference is observed at times when the components overlap. The wave-packet splitting and recombination mechanisms are quantum projection and nonadiabatic coupling. Experimental results are in agreement with the results of a detailed theoretical model.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.70.051601

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Atomic wave packets are coherently split into two components evolving on different adiabatic potentials of a near-resonant gray optical lattice. The components follow separated paths and overlap periodically. Wave-packet interference is observed at times when the components overlap. The wave-packet splitting and recombination mechanisms are quantum projection and nonadiabatic coupling. Experimental results are in agreement with the results of a detailed theoretical model.
Optical lattices are periodic light shift potentials that are created by the interference of several laser beams. In this dissertation I investigate the motion of atoms in such potentials. The center-of-mass wave-packet motion is initiated by an application of a sudden shift to the lattice potentials. The resulting oscillations are observed using a photon redistribution technique. We first show that by utilizing a real-time feedback loop and shifting the lattice continuously in response to the wave-packet motion, we can increase, alter or damp this motion using different gains of the feedback loop. We further show that by splitting the wave-packet between two adiabatic potentials of the lattice via quantum projection, we can construct an atom interferometer. We observe interference signal when the two components of the original wave-packet overlap. The behavior of the interference is studied as a function of lattice parameters and a consistent theoretical picture is developed. Further, we study how well-to-well tunneling of atoms and sloshing-type wave-pocket dynamics affect each other. We find that in the regions where the well-to-well tunneling is significant, the sloshing type wave-packet oscillations are suppressed. Sloshing-type motion only occurs if the tunneling is sufficiently suppressed with an applied magnetic field. Finally we describe a new type of optical lattice that is based on two-photon Raman transitions. The basic period of this lattice is reduced by a factor of two, compared with traditional lattices. We also show that Sub-Doppler cooling mechanism is present in this lattice. The dissertation is concluded with the presentation of a new experimental set-up for Bose-Einstein Condensate production, which may in the future be used for the study of BEC dynamics in optical lattices.
We study, experimentally and with quantum Monte-Carlo wave-function simulations, the effects of dispersion and dissipation on two types of spatial wave-packets of atoms in 1D and 3D optical lattices. Breathing-mode oscillations are excited by suddenly changing the potential depth after equilibration of the atoms at the lattice sites. The subsequent breathing-mode oscillations are measured using Bragg scattering. The second type of oscillations is prepared by suddenly shifting the lattice, thus exciting coherent-state-like wave-packets. These sloshing-type oscillations manifest themselves in a periodic photon redistribution between the lattice beams. We measure the resultant intensity exchange, which is a sensitive probe for the wave-packet evolution. For both types of wave-packets we observe an initial collapse within about three to six oscillation periods, a fact which we attribute to dephasing of the components of the wave-packets caused by the anharmonicity of the lattice potential. The initial collapse is followed by revivals of the wave-packets. Dissipation not only reduces the amplitude of these revivals but also modifies their shape and time of occurrence. In shallow lattices we observe that tunneling of the atoms between neighboring potential wells influences the wave-packet oscillations.
Summary form only given. The investigation of coherent superposition states for atoms interacting with external potentials allows a completely new class of experiments directed towards coherent trapping and guiding of neutral atoms. In addition, the process of decoherence, i.e., the collapse of superposition states, is one of the basic concepts for our understanding of the connection between classical and quantum physics. We study the creation and decay of superpositions of different components of the center-of-mass wavefunction of rubidium atoms in a one-dimensional near-resonant optical lattice. This makes it possible to gain insight into the dependence of decoherence processes on the coupling of the atoms to the light field. We discuss the dependence of the wave packet oscillations and echoes on experimental parameters (potential depth, light intensity and detuning, time delay, size of the shift, etc.). We compare our experimental results with numerical simulations of the echo effect. The observation of this new effect in the coherent wave packet motion of atoms trapped in optical potentials will allow us to selectively study the decoherence process and measure the decoherence time in regimes where this was previously impossible.
We study the effects of dispersion, tunneling, and dissipation on wave-packet oscillations resembling coherent states of atoms in optical lattices. The wave packets are prepared by suddenly shifting the lattice after equilibration of the atoms at the lattice sites. The atoms oscillate in the light-shift potential wells, which exert a force arising from photon redistribution between lattice beams. We measure the resultant periodic intensity exchange between the beams, obtaining information on the wave-packet evolution. We observe a strong impact of dissipation on the overall shape and the time of revivals, as well as a suppression of tunneling by weak magnetic fields.
We have observed Bragg diffraction of a Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium atoms by a moving, periodic, optical potential. The coherent process of Bragg diffraction produced a splitting of the condensate with unidirectional momentum transfer. Using the momentum selectivity of the Bragg process, we separated a condensate component with a momentum width narrower than that of the original condensate. By repeatedly pulsing the optical potential while the atoms were trapped, we observed the trajectory of the split atomic wave packets in the confining magnetic potential.