Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Annual Meeting Optical Society of America

Atom Optics

David E. Pritchard

Published Jan 1, 1990• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A large-aperture liquid-He coated spherical mirror and a room-temperature bent-gold crystal have been used to focus atom beams of H and He, respectively. They are described elsewhere in this symposium. Many of the new optical elements for atoms rely on the mechanical forces of light; mirrors are one example. When atoms approach the surface of glass that has intense blue-detuned light inside, they recoil from the evanescent wave that extends several wavelengths past the surface and into the vacuum. The atoms are never close enough to the surface to be affected by its atomic attraction or its small-scale irregularities. When a highly collimated beam of sodium atoms is directed at a standing wave of light near its resonance frequency, the angular scattering pattern of the atoms exhibits the characteristics of diffraction from a short sinusoidal grating. Diffraction orders up to ~20 have been observed at high light intensities. In contrast to phase gratings made with light, material absorption gratings are amplitude gratings.

DOI
10.1364/oam.1990.fh1

Related papers

Optics for Neutral Atomic Beams: Reflection and Diffraction of Sodium Atoms by Evanescent Laser Light Fields

K. G. H. Baldwin, Joseph V. Hajnal, Peter Fisk +2 more

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.

Journal of Modern Optics•Nov 1, 1990•8 citations

Atom optics with light

Pierre Meystre

Two of the major classes of atom optical elements are microfabricated structures and light beams. For instance, a standing light wave can act as a phase grating for atoms, as each absorption and emission process is accompanied by a coherent atomic recoil. After a simple discussion of the mechanical effects of light on atoms, we use a band-theoretical approach to categorize the main resonances (Bragg and Doppleron) that can be exploited to operate such a grating effectively. We discuss the incoherent effects of spontaneous emission, showing when and how they lead from a diffractive to a diffusive regime of atom–field interactions. We turn next to the diffraction of atoms by quantized fields and show the sensitivity of the resulting atomic diffraction pattern to the field photon statistics. In this quantized regime, the atom–field interaction leaves the system in an entangled state. We conclude by reviewing some proposals that exploit this property to perform measurements on the field (atom) to prepare and/or monitor specific atomic (field) states.

Annual Meeting Optical Society of America•Jan 1, 1992•0 citations

Atom optics: from basic science to applications

Alain Aspect

Atom Optics is a new branch of Atomic Physics, where one tries to act upon atoms, likewise one can act upon light (photons) in ordinary optics. The goal is therefore to reflect, focus, diffract, make interfere atoms1 .Afew years ago, this was considered as a fundamental goal, as had been the case decades ago for electron optics, or neutron optics. Indeed, it is always important to investigate the quantum behaviour of larger and larger objects, and studying the wave like behaviour of atoms has attracted a lot of attention. Moreover, atoms are objects that are coupled with the environment in a controlable way, in particular via quasi-resonant interaction with light. There is thus a hope to investigate how this coupling with the environment is relevant to the old problem of the division between the quantum world and the classical world2 ,and how it is related to the question of quantum decoherence. To keep in the domain of Atom Optics, the question of the preservation of coherence of the de Brogue waves describing the atomic motion is crucial. Another basic issue is the question of the collisions between atoms, or between an atom and a surface, when the atom is described as a matter-wave. From this point of view, the very interesting recent results in the domain of cold atoms collisions are only a part of what will probably come out, and new approaches may be fruitful. For instance, some collision effects may be considered as non-linear effects of atom optics... On the other hand, almost from the start, Atom Optics has been a domain where the question of applications has been raised. The experience of the many useful applications existing in the domain of electron and neutron optics has clearly shown the way. A first reason for expecting interesting applications to atom optics is the small value of the de Brogue wavelength, in the nanometer range or below, even at very low energies. This opens for instance the possibility of high resolution lithography, or of nanoprobes, at energies low enough to have a soft, non damaging interaction with a surface. Another important class of applications is in atomic interferometry. It can be shown that atomic interferometers (using atoms of mass Mat) are much more sensitive to inertial or gravitational effects3 than photonic interferometers (using photon of energy hw), by a ratio of the order of MatC2 / ho) . Note that this statement is true only under the condtion that the atomic and photonic interferometers under comparison have equivalent geometries, so that present day interferometers do not yet take full advantage of the 1011 factor of potential improvement. However, impressive results have already be demonstrated6. As a matter of fact, many of the papers presented in this symposium are linked to applications, either with atomic interferometers, or related to the possibility of deep focusing of an atomic beams. Most of these applications a Unite de recherche associée au CNRS can be easily understood by analogy with photon optics. However, there are also several features of atom optics that have no analogy in photon optics. The most important one is probably the possibility to increase the luminosity of an atomic beam (i.e. the flux of atoms per per unit time, surface, and solid angle) or —equivalently — to increase the atomic density in the phase space. This is possible by use of laser cooling, which is a dissipative process, and therefore is not constrained by the Liouville theorem. Another distinctive feature of atom optics —this one not particularly an advantage —is the lack of a sudden interface, that would be analogous to a glass-vacuum interface for light. By sudden interface, we mean that some characteristic parameter relevant to the propagation (the index of refraction in the case of light) changes on a scale small compared to the wavelength of the waves that propagate. In atom optics, the interfaces are usually soft, since the potentials acting on the atomic motion usually change on a scale large compared to the de Broglie wavelengths. In this overview, I intend to recall some basic principles of atom optics, and to point out some important analogies and differences with photon optics4 .Iexpect this discussion to be illustrated by the various presentations at this symposium, for which I hope to offer a framework. In addition, I will take the liberty to illustrate my presentation by some examples chosen among results obtained recently in my laboratory, on the subject of atomic mirrors. The comparison between atom optics and photon optics would of course be incomplete if I would not adress the question of the impact of Bose Einstein condensates onto Atom Optics. As many of us, I am convinced that we are assisting to a revolution as important for Atom Optics as the invention of the laser in the domain of Photon Optics, and we are lucky to have a full session on this hot subject.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•May 1, 1997•0 citations

Atom optics

Charles S. Adams

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.

Contemporary Physics•Jan 1, 1994•21 citations

Experimental investigation of the reflection of thermal sodium atoms from a moving evanescent grating

B. W. Stenlake

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

Atom Wave Interferometry with Diffraction Gratings of Light

Ernst Maria Rasel, Markus K. Oberthaler, Herman Batelaan +2 more

We have developed a novel interferometer for atom de Broglie waves, where amplitude division and recombination is achieved by diffraction at standing light waves operating as phase gratings. Our new atom interferometer is the exact mirror image of interferometers for light, with the roles of atoms and photons interchanged, and it directly demonstrates coherence of the diffraction of atomic waves at standing light waves. Easy manipulation of the phase, intensity, and polarization of the standing light wave permits novel studies of atomic coherence properties.

Physical Review Letters•Oct 2, 1995•244 citations
A large-aperture liquid-He coated spherical mirror and a room-temperature bent-gold crystal have been used to focus atom beams of H and He, respectively. They are described elsewhere in this symposium. Many of the new optical elements for atoms rely on the mechanical forces of light; mirrors are one example. When atoms approach the surface of glass that has intense blue-detuned light inside, they recoil from the evanescent wave that extends several wavelengths past the surface and into the vacuum. The atoms are never close enough to the surface to be affected by its atomic attraction or its small-scale irregularities. When a highly collimated beam of sodium atoms is directed at a standing wave of light near its resonance frequency, the angular scattering pattern of the atoms exhibits the characteristics of diffraction from a short sinusoidal grating. Diffraction orders up to ~20 have been observed at high light intensities. In contrast to phase gratings made with light, material absorption gratings are amplitude gratings.
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.
Two of the major classes of atom optical elements are microfabricated structures and light beams. For instance, a standing light wave can act as a phase grating for atoms, as each absorption and emission process is accompanied by a coherent atomic recoil. After a simple discussion of the mechanical effects of light on atoms, we use a band-theoretical approach to categorize the main resonances (Bragg and Doppleron) that can be exploited to operate such a grating effectively. We discuss the incoherent effects of spontaneous emission, showing when and how they lead from a diffractive to a diffusive regime of atom–field interactions. We turn next to the diffraction of atoms by quantized fields and show the sensitivity of the resulting atomic diffraction pattern to the field photon statistics. In this quantized regime, the atom–field interaction leaves the system in an entangled state. We conclude by reviewing some proposals that exploit this property to perform measurements on the field (atom) to prepare and/or monitor specific atomic (field) states.
Atom Optics is a new branch of Atomic Physics, where one tries to act upon atoms, likewise one can act upon light (photons) in ordinary optics. The goal is therefore to reflect, focus, diffract, make interfere atoms1 .Afew years ago, this was considered as a fundamental goal, as had been the case decades ago for electron optics, or neutron optics. Indeed, it is always important to investigate the quantum behaviour of larger and larger objects, and studying the wave like behaviour of atoms has attracted a lot of attention. Moreover, atoms are objects that are coupled with the environment in a controlable way, in particular via quasi-resonant interaction with light. There is thus a hope to investigate how this coupling with the environment is relevant to the old problem of the division between the quantum world and the classical world2 ,and how it is related to the question of quantum decoherence. To keep in the domain of Atom Optics, the question of the preservation of coherence of the de Brogue waves describing the atomic motion is crucial. Another basic issue is the question of the collisions between atoms, or between an atom and a surface, when the atom is described as a matter-wave. From this point of view, the very interesting recent results in the domain of cold atoms collisions are only a part of what will probably come out, and new approaches may be fruitful. For instance, some collision effects may be considered as non-linear effects of atom optics... On the other hand, almost from the start, Atom Optics has been a domain where the question of applications has been raised. The experience of the many useful applications existing in the domain of electron and neutron optics has clearly shown the way. A first reason for expecting interesting applications to atom optics is the small value of the de Brogue wavelength, in the nanometer range or below, even at very low energies. This opens for instance the possibility of high resolution lithography, or of nanoprobes, at energies low enough to have a soft, non damaging interaction with a surface. Another important class of applications is in atomic interferometry. It can be shown that atomic interferometers (using atoms of mass Mat) are much more sensitive to inertial or gravitational effects3 than photonic interferometers (using photon of energy hw), by a ratio of the order of MatC2 / ho) . Note that this statement is true only under the condtion that the atomic and photonic interferometers under comparison have equivalent geometries, so that present day interferometers do not yet take full advantage of the 1011 factor of potential improvement. However, impressive results have already be demonstrated6. As a matter of fact, many of the papers presented in this symposium are linked to applications, either with atomic interferometers, or related to the possibility of deep focusing of an atomic beams. Most of these applications a Unite de recherche associée au CNRS can be easily understood by analogy with photon optics. However, there are also several features of atom optics that have no analogy in photon optics. The most important one is probably the possibility to increase the luminosity of an atomic beam (i.e. the flux of atoms per per unit time, surface, and solid angle) or —equivalently — to increase the atomic density in the phase space. This is possible by use of laser cooling, which is a dissipative process, and therefore is not constrained by the Liouville theorem. Another distinctive feature of atom optics —this one not particularly an advantage —is the lack of a sudden interface, that would be analogous to a glass-vacuum interface for light. By sudden interface, we mean that some characteristic parameter relevant to the propagation (the index of refraction in the case of light) changes on a scale small compared to the wavelength of the waves that propagate. In atom optics, the interfaces are usually soft, since the potentials acting on the atomic motion usually change on a scale large compared to the de Broglie wavelengths. In this overview, I intend to recall some basic principles of atom optics, and to point out some important analogies and differences with photon optics4 .Iexpect this discussion to be illustrated by the various presentations at this symposium, for which I hope to offer a framework. In addition, I will take the liberty to illustrate my presentation by some examples chosen among results obtained recently in my laboratory, on the subject of atomic mirrors. The comparison between atom optics and photon optics would of course be incomplete if I would not adress the question of the impact of Bose Einstein condensates onto Atom Optics. As many of us, I am convinced that we are assisting to a revolution as important for Atom Optics as the invention of the laser in the domain of Photon Optics, and we are lucky to have a full session on this hot subject.
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.
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.
We have developed a novel interferometer for atom de Broglie waves, where amplitude division and recombination is achieved by diffraction at standing light waves operating as phase gratings. Our new atom interferometer is the exact mirror image of interferometers for light, with the roles of atoms and photons interchanged, and it directly demonstrates coherence of the diffraction of atomic waves at standing light waves. Easy manipulation of the phase, intensity, and polarization of the standing light wave permits novel studies of atomic coherence properties.