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Journal de Physique IV (Proceedings)

Coherent backscattering of light from a cold atomic cloud

G. Labeyrie, F. De Tomasi, J.-C. Bernard, Cord Axel Müller, Christian Miniatura, Robin Kaiser

Published May 1, 2000• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report the first observation of coherent backscattering of light from a sample of laser-cooled atoms. Rubidium 85 atoms are captured from a room-temperature vapor in a magneto-optical trap, and illuminated with a laser probe. The angular intensity distribution of the backscattered light is recorded on a cooled CCD detector. We observe a small enhancement factor in all polarization channels, including the helicity preserving channel where the enhancement is only 1.08. This surprising observation is attributed to the existence of contrast reduction processes involving the atom's internal structure.

DOI
10.1051/jp4:2000808

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We report the first observation of coherent backscattering of light from a sample of laser-cooled atoms. Rubidium 85 atoms are captured from a room-temperature vapor in a magneto-optical trap, and illuminated with a laser probe. The angular intensity distribution of the backscattered light is recorded on a cooled CCD detector. We observe a small enhancement factor in all polarization channels, including the helicity preserving channel where the enhancement is only 1.08. This surprising observation is attributed to the existence of contrast reduction processes involving the atom's internal structure.
We study light coherent transport in the weak localization regime using magneto-optically cooled strontium atoms. The coherent backscattering cone is measured in the four polarization channels using light resonant with a J(g) = 0-->J(e) = 1 transition of the strontium atom. We find an enhancement factor close to 2 in the helicity preserving channel, in agreement with theoretical predictions. This observation confirms the effect of internal structure as the key mechanism for the contrast reduction observed with a rubidium cold cloud [G. Labeyrie et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 5266 (1999)]. Experimental results are in good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations taking into account geometry effects.
When a quasiresonant laser beam illuminates an optically thick cloud of laser-cooled rubidium atoms, the average diffuse intensity reflected off the sample is enhanced in a narrow angular range around the direction of exact backscattering. This phenomenon is known as coherent backscattering (CBS). By detuning the laser from resonance, we are able to modify the light scattering mean-free path inside the sample and we record accordingly the variations of the CBS cone shape. We then compare the experimental data with theoretical calculations and Monte Carlo simulations including the effect of the light polarization and of the internal structure of the atoms. We confirm that the internal structure strongly affects the enhancement factor of the cone and we show that the unusual shape of the atomic medium---approximately a spherically-symmetric, Gaussian density profile---strongly affects the width and shape of the cone.
This thesis reports on the experimental study of coherent radiative transport in an ultracold gas of 85Rb atoms confined in a magneto-optic trap. Measurements are made of the polarization dependence of the spatial and spectral profile of light backscattered from the sample. The results shows an interferometric enhancement sensitive to coherent multiple scattering in the atomic gas, and strong variations with the polarization of the incident and detected light. Effects due to coherent enhancement of weak non-resonant transitions are also observed. Comparison of the measurements with realistic quantum Monte Carlo simulations of Kupriyanov, et al [1] yield very good agreement.