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Physics World

Measuring the refractive index in atom optics

S. A. Werner

Published Jun 1, 1995• 17 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The general and powerful ideas of optics embodied in the complex nature of the refractive index can now be carried over directly to "atom optics". Nowhere has this been more beautifully demonstrated than in the recent series of atom interferometry experiments performed by David Pritchard's group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (J Schmiedmayer et al. 1995 Phys. Rev. Lett. 74 1043).

DOI
10.1088/2058-7058/8/6/24

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The general and powerful ideas of optics embodied in the complex nature of the refractive index can now be carried over directly to "atom optics". Nowhere has this been more beautifully demonstrated than in the recent series of atom interferometry experiments performed by David Pritchard's group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (J Schmiedmayer et al. 1995 Phys. Rev. Lett. 74 1043).
Optical interference is proof of the wave nature of light and matter–wave interferometers have also been shown to work for electrons and neutrons (by exploiting the de Broglie wavelength of the particles). Now a working interferometer for atoms has been demonstrated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) for the first time, in the sense that it uses “atomic beam splitters” to separate and recombine atomic beams (David W Keith et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. (1991) 66 2693). A simpler experiment at Konstanz University, Germany (O Carnal and J Mlynek Phys. Rev. Lett. (1991) 66 2689) has also demonstrated interference phenomena in atomic beams but a detailed description of the apparatus is not yet published. Atom interferometers will some day be useful in precision metrology, mass tomography, precision gyroscopes, general relativity, fundamental quantum mechanics and atomic physics.
Matter wave optics has a long tradition spanning over many decades starting with electron and ion optics. These techniques now find commercial applications in microscopy and lithography. Neutron optics contributed many beautiful experiments that tested many fundamental principles in quantum mechanics. Over the last decade the field of atom optics has been developed. In particular the availability of narrowband tunable laser sources has opened up the addressing of the internal electronic degrees of freedom of the atoms and as a result, the manipulation of their trajectories. The dissipative nature of the atom light interaction is used for laser cooling methods e.g. to collimate atomic beams to a high brightness whereas the dispersive nature of the interaction is used to realize different atom optical components like lenses, beam-splitters and mirrors. Consequently atom optics is now at a stage where applications of those elements in more complex systems are studied. An overview of recent developments is given. This includes atom interferometry and atom lithography experiments and experiments with a quasi 2D gas of ultra cold atoms in planar waveguides. Future directions and applications are outlined.
The field of atom optics has enjoyed a surge of interest in recent years because of the production of microstructures sufficiently fine to diffract atomic beams through significant angles, and the development of tunable narrow-linewidth lasers that can be used to manipulate atomic beams using light forces. Here I consider a range of techniques to realize optical elements for atoms. In addition, some applications of atom optics are discussed. These include atom interferometry and its application to precision measurement, atom surface studies and atom lithography.