Generation of a coherent molecular beam from an atom laser

Vladilen S Letokhov, B. D. Pavlik

Xingguo Pan, Mikhail N. Shneider, Richard B. Miles

We present an experimental and theoretical study of the coherent Rayleigh-Brillouin scattering in gases in the kinetic regime. Gas density perturbation waves were generated by two crossing pump laser beams through optical dipole forces. A probe laser beam was then coherently scattered from the perturbation waves. The line shape of the scattered light was modeled using kinetic theory. The model takes into account the internal energy modes of the gas particles and is applicable to both molecular and atomic gases. We discuss the implication of coherent Rayleigh-Brillouin scattering on kinetic theory and photon matter interaction.

P. D. Drummond, Karen V. Kheruntsyan, Hao He

Summary form only given. Parametric solitons or simultaneous solitary waves (simultons), involving the optical /spl chi//sup (2)/ nonlinearity, have been the topic of much recent theoretical and experimental interest in nonlinear optics. We propose a novel mechanism by which a similar phenomenon may occur in nonlinear atomic optics, in which coherent molecule formation in a Bose-Einstein condensate takes the place of second harmonic generation. This requires a coupling that converts two atoms into one molecule, thus generating coupled atomic and molecular Bose-Einstein condensates. Our model includes a coherent molecular formation process (i.e., without dissipation) in an atomic BEC vapor, either through a Feshbach resonance or Raman photo-association. The coherently coupled atom-molecular condensate could provide a route to the observation of a localized three-dimensional BEC soliton, even in the absence of a trap potential. A possible application is in the free propagation of a non-diverging atom laser pulse, thus greatly increasing the intensity in an atom laser beam.

Hui Jing, Yuzhu Wang

Chun-Chia Chen, Shayne Bennetts, Rodrigo González Escudero +2 more

H. R. Gray, R. M. Whitley, Carlos R. Stroud

It is often desirable in laser spectroscopy and isotope separation to extract as much as possible of an atomic or molecular population that is distributed among a number of ground-state sublevels and low-lying metastable levels. We describe a form of coherent trapping that occurs when multiple resonant laser beams are used to couple the various ground states to a common upper level. This effect prevents the extraction of the entire population. We then study the effect with two dye lasers and an atomic beam and suggest possible ways to maximize the pumping efficiency.