corner
corner
APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. A » Volume 57 » Issue 1
< Previous Article | Next Article >

Phys. Rev. A 57, R24–R27 (1998)

Phase change of a probe due to oscillation of cold atoms in an optical standing wave

Download: PDF (236 kB) Buy this article Export: BibTeX or EndNote (RIS)

M. Kozuma1,*, K. Nakagawa2,†, W. Jhe3,‡, and M. Ohtsu1,4,*,§
1Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259, Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226, Japan
2Tokyo Institute of Polytechnics, 1583, Iiyama-cho, Atugi 243-02, Japan
3Department of Physics, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea
4Kanagawa Academy of Science and Technology, KSP East 408, 3-2-1 Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki 213, Japan

Received 5 March 1997; published in the issue dated January 1998

We abruptly subject laser-cooled 87Rb atoms to the one-dimensional, blue-detuned, optical standing-wave potential generated by two crossed probe laser beams and detect the phase change of the probe beam due to cold-atom dynamics. Damped oscillations of the observed phase signal are attributed to a temporal change of the root-mean-square position of the cold atoms relative to the minima of the periodic optical potential. The damping rate is in good agreement with numerical results, which take into account the potential anharmonicity but neglect spontaneous emission. The agreement indicates that the decay is mainly caused by dephasing due to trap anharmonicity. For sufficient low initial temperature, our calculations show quantum revivals of the wave-packet oscillation.

© 1998 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevA.57.R24
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevA.57.R24
PACS:
32.80.Pj

*FAX: +81-45-921-1204.

†FAX: +81-462-42-9511.

‡FAX: +82-2-884-3002.

§FAX: +81-44-819-2072.

 
< Previous Article | Next Article >