Controlling the dipole force

Simon M. Purcell, P. F. Barker

We measure the role of field-induced alignment on the dipole force for molecules using a single focused nonresonant laser beam. We show that through the alignment process we can modify the effective polarizability by field polarization and thus control the center-of-mass motion of the molecule. We observe a maximum change of $20%$ in the dipole force on CS${}_{2}$ molecules when changing from linearly to circularly polarized light. Additionally, the effect of the dipole force on different vibrational states is also studied.

Harold J. Metcalf, P. van der Straten

Mark E. Saffman

Michael L. Wall, F. Robicheaux, R. R. Jones

We describe simulations that illustrate the possibility for manipulating the position correlation of atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) using the dipole–dipole interaction. The control scheme utilizes a narrow band laser that is detuned to the high-frequency side of a single-photon Rydberg transition in an isolated atom. As two atoms move near each other, they can be laser excited to repelling diatomic Rydberg–Rydberg potential energy curves which halt their approach. By chirping the laser from large to small detunings, atoms in a MOT can be pushed apart by dipole–dipole forces, thereby controlling nearest-neighbor interactions. Alternatively, by holding the frequency of the Rydberg excitation laser fixed as the MOT is loaded, it should be possible to limit the minimum distance between atoms to a prescribed value.

Haixiang Fu, You-Hua Luo, Mingzhe Li +2 more

We propose an experimental scheme of using the far-off resonance optical dipole force to control tunable collapse of Bose-Einstein condensation with attractive interactions. This scheme can conveniently alter collapse phenomena while keeping interatomic processes unchanged. Effects on the critical interaction strength and time delay are studied with numerical simulation. We show that for the blue-detuning case those two quantities are increased while for the red-detuning case they are decreased.

Patrick R. Morrow, C. F. Bharucha, Kirk W. Madison +2 more