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Physical Review A

Theory of a compound large-angle atom beam splitter

A. Zh. Muradyan, A. A. Poghosyan, P. R. Berman

Published Sep 12, 2003• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A theory of an atom beam splitter is developed involving the interaction of standing-wave field pulses with $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-type atoms. The beam splitter consists of two interaction zones, both treated in the Raman-Nath approximation. There is an initial, off-resonant field (or fields) that prepares the initial atomic state, followed by interaction with a pair of standing-wave field pulses. Using this configuration one is able to create a large-angle beam splitter with a significant suppression of unwanted momentum components. The roles of relaxation and a frequency chirp are investigated, as are initial conditions for which both ground states of the $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ scheme are prepared by the first field. It is shown that the scheme is rather robust against fluctuations of system parameters.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.68.033604

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A theory of an atom beam splitter is developed involving the interaction of standing-wave field pulses with \ensuremathΛ\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremathΛ-type atoms. The beam splitter consists of two interaction zones, both treated in the Raman-Nath approximation. There is an initial, off-resonant field (or fields) that prepares the initial atomic state, followed by interaction with a pair of standing-wave field pulses. Using this configuration one is able to create a large-angle beam splitter with a significant suppression of unwanted momentum components. The roles of relaxation and a frequency chirp are investigated, as are initial conditions for which both ground states of the \ensuremathΛ\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremathΛ scheme are prepared by the first field. It is shown that the scheme is rather robust against fluctuations of system parameters.
The theory of a compound, large-angle atom beam splitter [A. Zh. Muradyan, A. A. Poghosyan, and P. R. Berman, Phys. Rev. A 68, 033604 (2003)] is generalized to allow for initial-state deflection. Atoms are prepared in an initial state by an off-resonant standing-wave field and then subject to two-standing-wave fields that couple the initial state to a final state. By a proper choice of parameters, atoms in the initial state can be deflected or split as a result of the interactions with the fields. The role of relaxation is considered.
We investigate schemes for the clean splitting of beams of three-level atoms using two standing-wave laser fields within an optical cavity. The proposed beam splitter is shown to work for atoms in the \ensuremath{\Lambda} ladder, and ssV configurations. For appropriate values of Rabi frequencies and detunings, we obtain a triangular type of potential for the atomic states of interest. As well as modeling the coherent evolution of the systems, we have used quantum Monte Carlo wave-function methods to model the effects of spontaneous emission on the resulting diffraction pattern, finding significant differences between the three configurations. We also investigate the limits of the Raman-Nath approximation for our systems, using the symmetric split-operator technique to include the effects of the kinetic term in the Hamiltonian. We also present the results of calculations in which the split output beams are recombined, demonstrating the expected interference for differently prepared input beams. In comparison with two-level beam splitters using a single standing wave, we obtain a superior splitting, while, in comparison with magneto-optical beam splitters, our system possesses the worthwhile practical advantages of experimental simplicity.
We develop the theory of an atomic beam splitter in which a monoenergetic beam of two-level atoms is incident normally to a classical standing-wave light field. The incident atomic wave function can be split into two coherent components with transverse momenta \ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}(2n+1)\ensuremath{\Elzxh}k using velocity-tuned resonances, where n is the order of the resonance. We discuss the cases of zero- and first-order resonances in detail, and show that the velocity-tuned resonances are renormalized due to a high-frequency Stark shift. Numerical results that display the effects of a finite momentum spread in the incident atomic beam are presented.
We investigate the diffraction of a three-level atom from a "walking" light wave composed of counterpropagating traveling waves of different frequencies. The coupling of the two nondegenerate internal ground states by means of an off-resonant Raman transition resonantly couples the initial external momentum state to only one other momentum state. This happens even in the Raman-Nath regime, where the interaction time is short enough that momentum transfer is not constrained by phase-matching conditions. The final momentum state depends on the initial internal state of the atom and the relative directions of the two traveling waves. By using multiple diffraction regions, this process can be used to coherently split a beam of atoms into two beams that are widely separated in momentum space. This type of beam splitter would be useful in the building an atom interferometer.
Abstract Atomic beam splitters are fundamental components of atom interferometers, with broad applications in high sensitivity metrology and integrated atom optics devices. In this work, we theoretically demonstrate coherent beam splitting of a metastable helium atomic beam using a pulsed bichromatic standing wave. Our key innovation is a fully self-consistent model coupling the optical Bloch equations - which include spontaneous emission via a Lindblad term - with the classical equations of atomic motion, enabling the simulation of real-time splitting dynamics. This allows us to simulate the real-time dynamics and identify optimal experimental parameters neglected in prior splitter studies. Crucially, we find that the optimal standing-wave phase difference is ϕ= 3π/4, not π/2, maximizing the distinction between the dynamical pathways for splitting the metastable helium beam (2 3 S 1 →3 3 P 2 transition). We propose and validate the use of optical pulses shorter than the spontaneous emission lifetime to suppress decoherence. Monte Carlo simulations predict a clean binary split with a tunable splitting angle to 56 mrad, corresponding to 56 ħk momentum transfer, and a splitting efficiency of 55 - 83% via detuning.