Atom Lasers
Abstract
The general goal of this research was the generation, manipulation and characterization of coherent and non-classical matter waves, including atom lasers. The research involved both a theoretical and an experimental component. Major achievements from the Meystre group include the theory of a binary-collision atom laser, new proposals in nonlinear atom optics, in particular the optical control of matter waves, matter-wave superradiance and coherent matter-wave amplification. These are applications of the nonlinear mixing between optical and matter waves, which have recently seen their first experimental verifications by groups at MIT, NIST and U. Tokyo. This work has also lead to a new proposal for atom holography. In addition, we have started to develop the coherence theory of matter waves and of the cross-coherence between optical and matter waves. Major results from the Jessen group include an in-depth study of practical avenues for single-atom quantum state engineering, and development of a novel proposal for entanglement engineering and quantum logic in optical lattices. Our most noteworthy experimental achievements include the development of efficient methods to load and trap atoms in far-of-resonant optical lattices, and the first demonstration of Raman sideband cooling of neutral Cs atoms to the ground state of an optical lattice. Most recently we have completed an experiment on coherent quantum tunneling and macroscopic quantum coherence in optical double-well potentials, and have initiated a new experiment to reconstruct the complete internal state of ultracold atomic wavepackets.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 14, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA384428
Entities
People
- Pierre Meystre
- Poul Jessen
Organizations
- University of Arizona