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Physical Review A

Role of optical channeling in contrast enhancement of echo interferometers

Gehrig Carlse, Jaskaran Randhawa, Eduardo Ramos, Thomas Vacheresse, Alexander Pouliot, Adam C. Carew, Anantharaman Kumarakrishnan

Published Apr 8, 2024• 8 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We investigate channeling oscillations in the contrast of a density grating formed by exposing a sample of ultracold atoms to an optical standing-wave pulse. We show that these dynamics can be imprinted on the echo signal associated with a two-pulse atom interferometer. Experimental results are supported by a simple model, which describes the grating contrast as the combination of two separate physical effects, namely, matter-wave interference and classical optical channeling resulting in Pendell\"osung-like oscillations. We discuss the enhancement in signal strength of echo interferometers that can be achieved by relying on these oscillations.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.109.043307

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Physical Review A•Feb 13, 2009•12 citations
We investigate channeling oscillations in the contrast of a density grating formed by exposing a sample of ultracold atoms to an optical standing-wave pulse. We show that these dynamics can be imprinted on the echo signal associated with a two-pulse atom interferometer. Experimental results are supported by a simple model, which describes the grating contrast as the combination of two separate physical effects, namely, matter-wave interference and classical optical channeling resulting in Pendell"osung-like oscillations. We discuss the enhancement in signal strength of echo interferometers that can be achieved by relying on these oscillations.
We investigate channeling oscillations in the contrast of a density grating formed by exposing a sample of ultracold atoms to an optical standing-wave pulse. We show that these dynamics can be imprinted on the free-induction decay signal following standing wave excitation as well as on the echo signal associated with a two-pulse atom interferometer (Carlse et al. Phys. Rev. A, 109, 043307 (2024)). Experimental results are supported by a simple model, which describes the grating contrast as the combination of two separate physical effects, namely, matter-wave interference and classical optical channeling resulting in Pendellösung-like oscillations. We also investigate the characteristics of near resonant Bragg scattering (Carlse et al. Phys. Rev. A. 110, 043306 (2024)), the underlying process that produces the echo signal. We explore how the density modulation produced in an atomic sample by momentum state interference and optical channeling can be optimally read out using a coherently Bragg-scattered traveling-wave electric field. When both the channeling and Bragg scattering processes are optimized, we report a 20-fold increase in scattering efficiency.
We have used an echo-type atom interferometer that manipulates laser-cooled atoms in a single ground state to investigate the effect of light scattering from pulsed and continuous-wave light. The interferometer uses two off-resonant standing-wave pulses applied at times t=0t=0t=0 and t=Tt=Tt=T to diffract and recombine momentum states separated by $2\ensuremath{\hbar}k$ at t=2Tt=2Tt=2T. Matter wave interference is associated with the formation of a density grating with period $\ensuremath{\lambda}/2$ in the vicinity of this echo time. The grating contrast is measured by recording the intensity of coherently backscattered light. The interferometer is perturbed by an additional pulse applied at $t=2T\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\delta}T$ or by continuous-wave background light. If the additional pulse is a standing wave, the momentum states interfering at t=2Tt=2Tt=2T are displaced and the grating contrast can be completely recovered due to constructive interference. In this case, the contrast shows a periodic modulation at the atomic recoil frequency as a function of $\ensuremath{\delta}T$. In a recent work, it was shown that the atomic recoil frequency can be measured easily and precisely when using coherence functions to model the signal shape. This paper provides an alternative description of the signal shape through an analytical calculation of echo formation in the presence of an additional standing-wave pulse. Using this treatment, it is possible to model the effects of spontaneous emission and spatial profile of the laser beam on the signal shape. Additionally, the theory predicts scaling laws as a function of the pulse area and the number of additional standing-wave pulses. These scaling laws are investigated experimentally and can be exploited to improve precision measurements of the atomic recoil frequency. We also show that coherence functions can be used to make a direct measurement of the populations of momentum states associated with the ground state under conditions where the Doppler-broadened velocity distribution of the sample is much larger than the recoil velocity. These measurements are consistent with Monte Carlo wave-function simulations. If the additional pulse is a traveling wave, we find that the grating contrast measured as a function of $\ensuremath{\delta}T$ can be modeled by a quasiperiodic coherence function as in previous experiments that utilized atomic beams. In this work, we investigate the dependence of the photon scattering rate on the intensity and detuning of the traveling wave. We also study the effects of perturbing the interferometer with continuous-wave light and find that the dependence of the photon scattering rate on the intensity and detuning of the perturbing field is consistent with expectations.
We investigate the characteristics of near resonant Bragg scattering, the underlying process that produces a signal in a grating-echo atom interferometer. We explore how the density modulation produced in an atomic sample by momentum state interference and optical channeling can be optimally read out using a coherently Bragg-scattered traveling-wave electric field. When both the channeling and Bragg scattering processes are optimized, we report a 20-fold increase in scattering efficiency. Our results suggest that a quantitative understanding of the atomic confinement achievable by channeling is possible through an analysis of reflectivity spectra.
We have studied sub-optical wavelength atomic gratings generated by the interference of atomic de Broglie waves in a time-domain interferometer. Three short optical standing- wave pulses, detuned from resonance with a cloud of approximately 100 (mu) K 85Rb atoms, act as phase gratings for atomic matter waves. Shortly after the first pulse, a modulation in the atomic density containing spatial harmonics of period (lambda) /2N appears ((lambda) is the optical wavelength, and N is any integer) and then rapidly vanishes due to the atomic thermal motion. The cloud maintains phase memory of this modulation, however, and the second pulse (applied at time T after the first one) results in a temporal sequence of atomic density gratings of periods (lambda) /2N. The appearance of a grating is referred to as an echo. The third pulse (and a subsequent traveling wave pulse) is used to detect these gratings. By this technique, we have created and detected in real time a grating with period (lambda) /4 at time 1.5T after the first pulse and observed new types of `echoes' caused by interaction of the de Broglie waves with all three phase gratings. This ability to produce sub-wavelength structures makes our techniques applicable to atomic beam lithography.
We have studied suboptical wavelength atomic gratings, generated by the interference of atomic de Broglie waves in a time-domain interferometer. Three short optical standing- wave pulses, detuned from resonance with a cloud of approximately 100 (mu) K85 Rb atoms, act as phase gratings for atomic matter waves. The first two standing- wave pulses, separated by time T, produce a sequence of atomic density gratings of periods $lamda/4 at time 1.5T after the first pulse. The dependence of our signals on the time separation of the pulses is in good agreement with our theoretical predictions. As far as we know, this is the first time when the formation of a high order matter-wave diffraction grating was observed in real time. This demonstrated ability to produce sub-wavelength structures makes our techniques applicable to atomic beam lithography.
We have developed a technique for measuring the atomic recoil frequency using a single-state echo-type atom interferometer that manipulates laser-cooled atoms in the ground state. The interferometer relies on momentum-state interference due to two standing-wave pulses that produce density gratings. The interference is modified by applying a third standing-wave pulse during the interferometer pulse sequence. As a result, the grating contrast exhibits periodic revivals at the atomic recoil frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{r}$ as a function of the time at which the third pulse is applied, allowing ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{r}$ to be measured easily and precisely. The contrast is accurately described by a coherence function, which is the Fourier transform of the momentum distribution, produced by the third pulse and by the theory of echo formation. If the third pulse is a traveling wave, loss of grating contrast is observed, an effect also described by a coherence function. The decay of the grating contrast as a function of continuous-wave light intensity is used to infer the cross section for photon absorption.