Matter waves in time-modulated complex light potentials

Abstract

Temporal light modulation methods which are of great practical importance in optical technology, are emulated with matter waves. This includes generation and tailoring of matter-wave sidebands, using amplitude and phase modulation of an atomic beam. In the experiments atoms are Bragg diffracted at standing light fields, which are periodically modulated in intensity or frequency. This gives rise to a generalized Bragg situation under which the atomic matter waves are both diffracted and coherently shifted in their de Broglie frequency. In particular, we demonstrate creation of complex and non-Hermitian matter-wave modulations. One interesting case is a potential with a time-dependent complex helicity ͓Vϰexp(it)͔, which produces a purely lopsided energy transfer between the atoms and the photons, and thus violates the usual symmetry between absorption and stimulated emission of energy quanta. Possible applications range from atom cooling over advanced atomic interferometers to a new type of mass spectrometer.

Wannier–Stark resonances in optical and semiconductor superlattices

“…The atoms are additionally exposed to dissipative forces, which may have substantial effects on the dynamics[135]. However, since these forces are proportional to δ −2 while the dipole force (1.19) is proportional to δ −1 , for sufficiently large detuning one can reach the limit of non-dissipative optical lattices.…”

Bragg Scattering of Free Electrons Using the Kapitza-Dirac Effect

“…In this sense, we complete the story of the Kapitza-Dirac experiment, while at the same time we open the door to the study of other phenomena with free electrons that require thick crystals. Examples of these in the field of atom optics are Bloch oscillations [15], quantum chaos studies [16,17], and other timedependent effects such as acousto-optical modulators (AOM) [18]. An application using thick crystals has been suggested [18] to make interferometers more sensitive.…”

“…Examples of these in the field of atom optics are Bloch oscillations [15], quantum chaos studies [16,17], and other timedependent effects such as acousto-optical modulators (AOM) [18]. An application using thick crystals has been suggested [18] to make interferometers more sensitive. Improved sensitivity for interferometric gravitational sensing makes detection of the free fall of electrons and positrons a possibility [19].…”

Transient and stationary chaos of a Bose-Einstein condensate loaded into a moving optical lattice potential

“…Periodic optical lattices, formed by the interference of two or more laser beams, have been extensively used in atomic physics [1][2][3]. The combination of the optical lattices with a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in recent experiments opened up many new research aspects [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] and provided a practically useful method to precisely manipulate BECs [13].…”