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Full length article Reflection cooling of sodium atoms in an evanescent light wave

D. V. Laqushin, Yu. B. Ovchinnikov, V. I. Balykin

Published Jan 1, 1997• 0 citations
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Abstract

Studied in this work is the cooling of a beam of sodium atoms upon its reflection from an evanescent light wave. The cooling mechanism is associated with the spontaneous transitions of the atoms between the hyperflne-structure sublevels of the ground state. Subject to studies is the relationship between the reflection angle of the atoms and the frequency detuning and intensity of the light wave. It is demonstrated experimentally that the transverse atomic momentum component can be reduced by more than one half (A p I/p I = 0.5) . a single reflection event, the number of cooled atoms in the reflected beam exceeding 50%. It should be noted that the loss of atoms in reflection can be made as small as desired, and so the reflection cooling cycle can be repeated many times over.

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Cooling of atoms reflected from an evanescent light wave

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The first experimental observation of the sisyphus cooling in an evanescent light wave was carried out. We have observed a reduction of the transverse energy of Na atoms in a beam upon its reflection from the evanescent light wave, associated with the optical pumping between sublevels of the hyperfine structure of the atomic ground state. The initial transverse momentum of 42 $HBARk has been reduced to 28$HBARk in a single reflection event.

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Realization of the analogues of optical components for the manipulation of atomic de Broglie waves has recently become possible through the use of laser-based techniques. The strong fields generated by laser light have already been used to reflect atoms using travelling evanescent waves, and to diffract atomic beams through small angles using transmission gratings formed by a standing laser light wave in vacuo. Present experiments aim to combine these techniques to produce a reflection diffraction grating formed by a standing evanescent laser-light field, and to exploit the larger diffraction angles made possible theoretically by such a scheme.

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This thesis reports an investigation of the interaction of a thermal sodium beam with a variety of near-resonant evanescent field configurations which was performed between March 1990 and September 1993.The evanescent fields were tuned above the sodium D2 transition, in order to repel atoms at glancing incident angles through the gradient force.Three evanescent field configurations, corresponding to various optic elements, were employed.The first configuration was a travelling evanescent field, from which reflection of the beam was observed at glancing angles up to 4.5mrad.This configuration corresponds to a mirror for atoms.The second configuration was a standing evanescent wave generated by retroreflecting the travelling evanescent wave.The resulting evanescent wave consisted of closely spaced reflective regions separated by non-reflecting nodes of the standing wave.This configuration corresponds to a mirror grating with periodicity 7J2.The atomic beam was reflected from the evanescent field.No diffraction was observed, however.The final configuration was a moving standing evanescent grating, generated by interference between two counterpropagating laser beams.The relative velocity between the atoms and the grating could be continuously varied by adjusting the frequency of one laser.Coherent exchange of photons between the two fields in the moving evanescent grating was observed.This exchange exhibited velocity dependent resonant behaviour corresponding to doppleron resonances.The results are explained in terms of a dressed-state model for diffraction of atoms from such a grating.A parameter search was performed in an attempt to observe the diffraction of the thermal sodium beam, with null results.However, deflections which were dependent on grating velocity are reported.

•Jan 1, 1997•0 citations

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The reflection of metastable argon atoms from evanescent waves produced by total internal reflection and surface-plasmon excitation is investigated. We study the departure from ideal specular reflection by comparing our experimental results with a Monte Carlo simulation of the reflection process. The observed broadening of the reflection beam was found to be caused predominantly by fluctuations of the diple force. We show that the surface plasmon produces significant enhancement of the evanescent-wave intensity without degrading the quality of reflection. In addition, the number of spontaneous emissions occurring during the reflection process was investigated by comparing the reflectivity of evanescent-wave mirrors based on open and closed transitions in argon. An open-transition mirror selectively reflects atoms which do not undergo spontaneous emission. For a large detuning, the average number of spontaneous emissions for reflected atoms was 0.11.

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AIP conference proceedings•Jan 1, 2008•0 citations
Studied in this work is the cooling of a beam of sodium atoms upon its reflection from an evanescent light wave. The cooling mechanism is associated with the spontaneous transitions of the atoms between the hyperflne-structure sublevels of the ground state. Subject to studies is the relationship between the reflection angle of the atoms and the frequency detuning and intensity of the light wave. It is demonstrated experimentally that the transverse atomic momentum component can be reduced by more than one half (A p I/p I = 0.5) . a single reflection event, the number of cooled atoms in the reflected beam exceeding 50%. It should be noted that the loss of atoms in reflection can be made as small as desired, and so the reflection cooling cycle can be repeated many times over.
The first experimental observation of the sisyphus cooling in an evanescent light wave was carried out. We have observed a reduction of the transverse energy of Na atoms in a beam upon its reflection from the evanescent light wave, associated with the optical pumping between sublevels of the hyperfine structure of the atomic ground state. The initial transverse momentum of 42 HBARkhasbeenreducedto28HBARk has been reduced to 28HBARkhasbeenreducedto28HBARk in a single reflection event.
Realization of the analogues of optical components for the manipulation of atomic de Broglie waves has recently become possible through the use of laser-based techniques. The strong fields generated by laser light have already been used to reflect atoms using travelling evanescent waves, and to diffract atomic beams through small angles using transmission gratings formed by a standing laser light wave in vacuo. Present experiments aim to combine these techniques to produce a reflection diffraction grating formed by a standing evanescent laser-light field, and to exploit the larger diffraction angles made possible theoretically by such a scheme.
This thesis reports an investigation of the interaction of a thermal sodium beam with a variety of near-resonant evanescent field configurations which was performed between March 1990 and September 1993.The evanescent fields were tuned above the sodium D2 transition, in order to repel atoms at glancing incident angles through the gradient force.Three evanescent field configurations, corresponding to various optic elements, were employed.The first configuration was a travelling evanescent field, from which reflection of the beam was observed at glancing angles up to 4.5mrad.This configuration corresponds to a mirror for atoms.The second configuration was a standing evanescent wave generated by retroreflecting the travelling evanescent wave.The resulting evanescent wave consisted of closely spaced reflective regions separated by non-reflecting nodes of the standing wave.This configuration corresponds to a mirror grating with periodicity 7J2.The atomic beam was reflected from the evanescent field.No diffraction was observed, however.The final configuration was a moving standing evanescent grating, generated by interference between two counterpropagating laser beams.The relative velocity between the atoms and the grating could be continuously varied by adjusting the frequency of one laser.Coherent exchange of photons between the two fields in the moving evanescent grating was observed.This exchange exhibited velocity dependent resonant behaviour corresponding to doppleron resonances.The results are explained in terms of a dressed-state model for diffraction of atoms from such a grating.A parameter search was performed in an attempt to observe the diffraction of the thermal sodium beam, with null results.However, deflections which were dependent on grating velocity are reported.
The reflection of metastable argon atoms from evanescent waves produced by total internal reflection and surface-plasmon excitation is investigated. We study the departure from ideal specular reflection by comparing our experimental results with a Monte Carlo simulation of the reflection process. The observed broadening of the reflection beam was found to be caused predominantly by fluctuations of the diple force. We show that the surface plasmon produces significant enhancement of the evanescent-wave intensity without degrading the quality of reflection. In addition, the number of spontaneous emissions occurring during the reflection process was investigated by comparing the reflectivity of evanescent-wave mirrors based on open and closed transitions in argon. An open-transition mirror selectively reflects atoms which do not undergo spontaneous emission. For a large detuning, the average number of spontaneous emissions for reflected atoms was 0.11.
In the reflection of atoms by evanescent wave the amplitude of the light field can be changed not necessarily adiabatically slow in comparison with relaxation of internal atomic motion. An approach to describe the reflection of atoms by evanescent wave is the dressed state picture. An atomic mirror can be formed also by a focused elliptical laser beam, in which atoms intersect near the waist of the laser beam. A simple evanescent wave allows one to create a high homogeneous field along the surface of an atomic mirror, without a limitation on the intensity of the field in an evanescent wave. The size of an atomic mirror is usually restricted by the laser intensity required by the reflection. There are several processes at the reflection of atom by light which could lead to non ideal properties of the mirror. One of the remarkable properties of an atomic mirror is its ability to reflect atoms in a certain quantum state.
A research project at the “Laboratoire d’électronique quantique” consists in a theoretical study of the reflection and diffraction phenomena via an atomic mirror. This poster presents the principle of an atomic mirror. Many groups in the world have constructed this type of atom optics experiments such as in Paris‐Orsay‐Villetaneuse (France), Stanford‐Gaithersburg (USA), Munich‐Heidelberg (Germany), etc. A laser beam goes into a prism with an incidence bigger than the critical incidence. It undergoes a total reflection on the plane face of the prism and then exits. The transmitted resulting wave out of the prism is evanescent and repulsive as the frequency detuning of the laser beam compared to the atomic transition δ = ωL−ω0 is positive. The cold atomic sample interacts with this evanescent wave and undergoes one or more elastic bounces by passing into backward points in its trajectory because the atoms’ kinetic energy (of the order of the μeV) is less than the maximum of the dipolar potential barrier ℏΩ2/Δ where Ω is the Rabi frequency [1]. In fact, the atoms are cooled and captured in a magneto‐optical trap placed at a distance of the order of the cm above the prism surface. The dipolar potential with which interact the slow atoms is obtained for a two level atom in a case of a dipolar electric transition (D2 Rubidium transition at a wavelength of 780nm delivered by a Titane‐Saphir laser between a fundamental state Jf = l/2 and an excited state Je = 3/2). This potential is corrected by an attractive Van der Waals term which varies as 1/z3 in the Lennard‐Jones approximation (typical atomic distance of the order of λ0/2π where λ0 is the laser wavelength) and in 1/z4 if the distance between the atom and its image in the dielectric is big in front of λ0/2π. This last case is obtained in a quantum electrodynamic calculation by taking into account an orthornormal base [2]. We’ll examine the role of spontaneous emission for which the rate is inversely proportional to the detuning δ and is responsible of the non specular aspect of the atomic reflection (atomic diffusion). In the contrary, we note that the specularity of the reflection preserve the coherence of the atomic wave packet. The atoms will constitute a probe of the rugosity of the prism surface which can be imperfect or super‐polished.