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CRC Press eBooks

Introduction

V. I. Balykin, Vladilen S Letokhov

Published Apr 23, 2020• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The term of atom optics is due to the natural analogy with light optics or the optics of photons. Some elements of the optics of atoms and molecules, based on the interaction between spatially nonuniform static magnetic or electrical fields and the magnetic or electrical dipole moment of the particles, have long been known and used fairly successfully in experimental physics. In the presence of a magnetic or electric field, the quantum state of atom or molecule is shifted, the shift depending on the initial quantum state of the particle and the field strength. A particle in nonuniform magnetic field is acted upon by the force directed along the field strength gradient. The focusing properties of a magnetic lens depend on the magnetic sublevel of atoms.

DOI
10.1201/9780429333378-1

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The term of atom optics is due to the natural analogy with light optics or the optics of photons. Some elements of the optics of atoms and molecules, based on the interaction between spatially nonuniform static magnetic or electrical fields and the magnetic or electrical dipole moment of the particles, have long been known and used fairly successfully in experimental physics. In the presence of a magnetic or electric field, the quantum state of atom or molecule is shifted, the shift depending on the initial quantum state of the particle and the field strength. A particle in nonuniform magnetic field is acted upon by the force directed along the field strength gradient. The focusing properties of a magnetic lens depend on the magnetic sublevel of atoms.
The properties of molecule-optical elements such as lenses or prisms based on the interaction of molecules with optical fields depend in a crucial way on the molecular quantum state and its alignment created by the optical field. Herein, we consider the effects of state-dependent alignment in estimating the optical dipole force acting on the molecules and, to this end, introduce an effective polarizability which takes proper account of molecular alignment and is directly related to the alignment-dependent optical dipole force. We illustrate the significance of including molecular alignment in the optical dipole force by a trajectory study that compares previously used approximations with the present approach. The trajectory simulations were carried out for an ensemble of linear molecules subject to either propagating or standing-wave optical fields for a range of temperatures and laser intensities. The results demonstrate that the alignment-dependent effective polarizability can serve to provide correct estimates of the optical dipole force, on which a state-selection method applicable to nonpolar molecules could be based. We note that an analogous analysis of the forces acting on polar molecules subject to an inhomogeneous static electric field reveals a similarly strong dependence on molecular orientation.
We show that a new type of photon detector, sensitive to the gradients of electromagnetic fields, should be a useful tool to characterize the quantum properties of spatially-dependent optical fields. As a simple detector of such a kind, we propose using magnetic dipole or electric quadrupole transitions in atoms or molecules and apply it to the detection of spiral photons in Laguerre-Gauss (LG) beams. We show that LG beams are not true hollow beams, due to the presence of magnetic fields and gradients of electric fields on beam axis. This approach paves the way to an analysis at the quantum level of the spatial structure and angular momentum properties of singular light beams.
Most scientists immediately associate optics with photons. Indeed optics, defined as the study of the properties of light, is one of the oldest fields of physics – dating back to the earliest civilisations – and is still a thriving area of research. But there is more to optics than light and lasers. “Matter wave” optics, where electrons and neutrons take the place of photons, began with the demonstration of the wave nature of the electron by G P Thomson, Davisson and Germer n the 1920s. Since then electron and neutron interferometers have been used in many beautiful experiments that have improved our understanding of quantum mechanics. Beams of electrons and neutrons have also become indispensable tools in the study of solids and surfaces. Therefore it was perhaps inevitable that one day physicists would be able to do optics with atoms – to coherently split, focus and refract beams of neutral atoms.
It has been shown in an earlier publication [J. Pendlebury et al. Phys. Rev. A 70, 032102 (2004)] that magnetic-field gradients applied to particles in traps can induce Larmor frequency shifts that may falsely be interpreted as electric-dipole moment signals. This study has now been extended to include nonuniform magnetic-field gradients due to the presence of a local magnetic dipole. It is found that, in the high orbit-frequency regime, .the magnitude of the shifts can be enhanced beyond the simple expectation of proportionality to the volume-averaged magnetic-field gradient $⟨\ensuremath{\partial}{B}_{z}∕\ensuremath{\partial}z⟩$.