Coherent manipulation of atoms by copropagating laser beams

Abstract

Optical dipole traps and fractional Talbot optical lattices based on the interference between multiple co-propagating laser beams are proposed. The variation of relative amplitudes and phases of the interfering light beams of these traps makes it possible to manipulate the spatial position of trapped atoms. Examples of spatial translation and splitting of atoms between a set of the interference traps are considered. The prospect of constructing all-light atom chips based on the proposed technique is presented.

Three-dimensional Talbot optical superlattice produced by bichromatic cosine-Gaussian light beams

“…The Talbot effect provides quasi-periodic spatial oscillations (micro-oscillations) of the light intensity along the direction of the beam propagation (moreover, these oscillations are of such type which is necessary for the rectification of the gradient force). In this aspect, the idea of using the Talbot effect for generating monochromatic 3D OLs [7,24,25] is extended to the case of the deep 3D bichromatic superlattice. The bichromatic pulling force is intended for compensating the scattering force along the beam axis.…”

Accordion lattice based on the Talbot effect

“…Here, we introduce an idea of producing an alternative optical lattice relied on the Talbot effect [19,20,21,22]. There were some early proposed ideas and experiments of optical lattice produced by the Talbot effect but with a binary shape of the opening fraction (the ratio between the slit width and the grating period) f = 0.5 [23,24,25]. We here study the Talbot optical lattice with various opening fractions and grating periods.…”

All-optical atom surface traps implemented with one-dimensional planar diffractive microstructures

“…Earlier work has emphasized remote, table-top preparation of optical trap arrays with subsequent projection into the closed vacuum system containing the cold atoms [9] or the use of "optical tweezers" either for long-range transport of cold-atom condensates [10] or for the sorting of individual atoms in 1D strings [11]. Recent developments in integrated-and nano-photonics [12], however have renewed interest in all-optical approaches to atom and molecule manipulation using on-chip planar architectures [13,14]. Optical forces are of interest because of their wide applicability to atoms, molecules and clusters.…”