Mainz 1997 – scientific programme

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Q: Quantenoptik

Q 11: Atomoptik I

Q 11.6: Talk

Monday, March 3, 1997, 17:15–17:30, N 33

Atom Beamsplitter Based on Raman Transitions in Continuous Light Waves — •E.A. Korsunsky¹ and Yu.B. Ovchinnikov² — ¹Institut für Experimentalphysik, TU Graz, 8010 Graz, Österreich — ²Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, 69029 Heidelberg, Deutschland

We propose a new configuration for a coherent splitting of atomic matter waves based on three-level Raman atom-light interaction scheme. In this configuration, a bichromatic standing light wave and a superimposed traveling light wave form a Raman resonance between two sublevels of the ground state of atom. The main advantage of the scheme is that the population of the excited state of the atom can be very small. Therefore the probability of interrupting the coherent de Broglie wave splitting by spontaneously emitted photons is very low. These properties of the beam splitter allow to apply it for all alkali atoms with strong transitions including the case of very slow atoms. We have calculated the transverse momentum distributions of the split beam of Cs atoms for different parameters of the light fields and different interaction times. It is shown that the absolute magnitude of the momentum splitting can be as large as p=± 100ℏ k.

Supported by the Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung, project no. S 6508. Y.B.O. is Alexander von Humboldt Fellow.