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arXiv:quant-ph/0506060 · Physical Review A

Dimensional crossover in Bragg scattering from an optical lattice

Sebastian Slama, C. von Cube, A. Ludewig, M. Kohler, Claus Zimmermann, Ph. W. Courteille

Published Sep 14, 2005• 16 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We study Bragg scattering at one-dimensional (1D) optical lattices. Cold atoms are confined by the optical dipole force at the antinodes of a standing wave generated inside a laser-driven high-finesse cavity. The atoms arrange themselves into a chain of pancake-shaped layers located at the antinodes of the standing wave. Laser light incident on this chain is partially Bragg reflected. We observe an angular dependence of this Bragg reflection which is different from what is known from crystalline solids. In solids, the scattering layers can be taken to be infinitely spread (three-dimensional limit). This is not generally true for an optical lattice consistent of a 1D linear chain of pointlike scattering sites. By an explicit structure factor calculation, we derive a generalized Bragg condition, which is valid in the intermediate regime. This enables us to determine the aspect ratio of the atomic lattice from the angular dependance of the Bragg scattered light.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.72.031402

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We study Bragg scattering at one-dimensional (1D) optical lattices. Cold atoms are confined by the optical dipole force at the antinodes of a standing wave generated inside a laser-driven high-finesse cavity. The atoms arrange themselves into a chain of pancake-shaped layers located at the antinodes of the standing wave. Laser light incident on this chain is partially Bragg reflected. We observe an angular dependence of this Bragg reflection which is different from what is known from crystalline solids. In solids, the scattering layers can be taken to be infinitely spread (three-dimensional limit). This is not generally true for an optical lattice consistent of a 1D linear chain of pointlike scattering sites. By an explicit structure factor calculation, we derive a generalized Bragg condition, which is valid in the intermediate regime. This enables us to determine the aspect ratio of the atomic lattice from the angular dependance of the Bragg scattered light.
We report on the observation of Bragg scattering at 1D atomic lattices. Cold atoms are confined by optical dipole forces at the antinodes of a standing wave generated by the two counterpropagating modes of a laser-driven high-finesse ring cavity. By heterodyning the Bragg-scattered light with a reference beam, we obtain detailed information on phase shifts imparted by the Bragg scattering process. Being deep in the Lamb-Dicke regime, the scattered light is not broadened by the motion of individual atoms.
We study Bragg scattering at one-dimensional atomic lattices. Cold atoms are confined by optical dipole forces at the antinodes of a standing wave generated inside a laser-driven cavity. The atoms arrange themselves into an array of lens-shaped layers located at the antinodes of the standing wave. Light incident on this array at a well-defined angle is partially Bragg reflected. We measure reflectivities as high as 3030%30. In contrast to a previous experiment devoted to the thin grating limit [S. Slama et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 193901 (2005)] we now investigate the thick grating limit characterized by multiple reflections of the light beam between the atomic layers. In principle, multiple reflections give rise to a photonic stop band, which manifests itself in the Bragg diffraction spectra as asymmetries and minima due to destructive interference between different reflection paths. We show that close to resonance however disorder favors diffuse scattering, hinders coherent multiple scattering and impedes the characteristic suppression of spontaneous emission inside a photonic band gap.
We observe coherently enhanced reflection (Bragg scattering) of a near resonant laser beam from cesium atoms ordered by a periodic array of optical potential wells known as an optical lattice. The reflected light is enhanced by a factor of $\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{5}$ over scattering from a disordered atomic sample. We measure the magnitude of the reflectivity and its detuning dependence as functions of the density and the degree of localization of the atoms. The change in lattice constant due to the frequency-dependent effective index of refraction seen by the lattice light field is observed.
We explore Bragg diffraction from atomic lattices bound by light as a diagnostic tool for studying properties of optical lattices not accessible so far. A weak laser beam at a wavelength of about half the wavelength of the lattice field is diffracted from the (100) and (130) lattice planes of a Rb optical lattice. The observation of well-defined Bragg spots confirms the long-range order in optical lattices. From the acceptance angle for Bragg diffraction we deduce the range over which crystalline order is preserved. The comparison of two Bragg spots diffracted from different lattice planes allows us to directly measure the position spread of the atomic wave packets oscillating in the light-induced potential wells. By combining conventional probe transmission spectroscopy with Bragg diffraction we study the motion of atoms that are deeply bound inside the potential wells. We show experimentally and theoretically how backaction of the bound atoms on the trapping field influences the lattice constant. We develop a model for the modification of the refractive index by the highly ordered atomic medium. Based on first-order scattering theory the model explicitly includes the influence of atomic localization on the resulting lattice constant. By measuring the change of the Bragg angle, we observe a decrease of the lattice plane separation for increasing atomic density. We report experimental evidence for the correction to the refractive index due to the finite position spread of the atoms.
We consider the dynamical Bragg reflection of an atomic matter wave from a finite optical lattice; the resulting energy dependence of the transmittivity allows us to filter out the velocities of the incident atoms. In particular, we show how the coherence length of the incident beam can be inferred from the sharpness of the transmittivity as a function of the lattice intensity. For incident frequencies well inside the reflecting window, the interference of incident and reflected matter waves gives rise to an oscillatory density profile in front of the lattice which can be observed by means of light diffraction. The angular width of the diffracted peaks also provides information on the coherence length of the incident atomic beam.
In this paper, we study the problem of multiple scattering of light from a randomly occupied optical lattice, thereby extending the first-order Born analysis of the previous paper. A full multiple-scattering analysis is essential to a complete understanding of the nature of light propagation inside a medium. Our calculations show that the incident wave, when resonant with the atomic medium, is rapidly extinguished due to multiple scattering. The decay constant depends critically on the incident wavelength, the lattice constant, the average number density of atoms, and their polarizability. Both the Bragg scattering amplitudes and directions are modified as a result of multiple scattering. Because of the random site occupation of an otherwise regular lattice structure, a coherent enhancement of the scattering cross section is also predicted to occur along a discrete set of directions that are related to the strictly backward direction by reciprocal lattice vectors.