Berlin 2001 – scientific programme
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Q: Quantenoptik
Q 3: Atom Optics I
Q 3.5: Talk
Monday, April 2, 2001, 16:45–17:00, H 104
The atomic kaleidoscope — •Thomas Fischer1, Peter Maunz1, Thomas Puppe1, Pepijn Pinkse1, Gerhard Rempe1, Peter Horak2, Peter Domokos2, and Helmut Ritsch2 — 1Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Str. 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany — 2Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Innbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
In recent years, the observation of single cold atoms in a high-finesse cavity has become possible [1,2]. Position information is obtained, as the transmission of the cavity is a direct measure for the coupling of the atom to the known spatial mode of the light field. With suitable assumptions about the starting position and direction, it seems possible to reconstruct the atomic trajectory [2]. Here we will present a new idea for a more direct approach to track a particle in a high-finesse cavity. It relies on several degenerate modes of the cavity, e.g. higher-order Hermite-Gaussian modes. Somewhat resembling a toy kaleidoscope, the symmetry of the mode pattern will be affected and altered by the particle. By imaging the light which is transmitted by the cavity onto a camera, it should be possible to monitor the position of the atom directly.
[1] P.W.H. Pinkse, T. Fischer, P. Maunz, and G. Rempe, Nature 404, 365 (2000)
[2] C.J. Hood, T.W. Lynn, A.C. Doherty, A.S. Parkins, and H.J. Kimble, Science 287, 1447 (2000)