The coherent manipulation of wave packets is an important tool in many areas of physics. We demonstrate the experimental realization of quasifree wave packets of ultra-cold atoms bound by an external harmonic trap. The wave packets are produced by modulating the intensity of an optical lattice containing a Bose-Einstein condensate. The evolution of these wave packets is monitored in situ and their six-photon reflection at a band gap is observed. In direct analogy with pump-probe spectroscopy, a probe pulse allows for the resonant de-excitation of the wave packet into states localized around selected lattice sites at a long, controllable distance of more than 100 lattice sites from the main component. This precise control mechanism for ultra-cold atoms thus enables controlled quantum state preparation and splitting for quantum dynamics, metrology and simulation.

The temporal evolution of coherent population trapping ͑CPT͒ was observed in rubidium atomic vapor when sudden changes were made to the detuning of a weak Raman field. The subsequent creation and destruction of CPT are caused by the temporal oscillations of optically induced Raman coherence, with their period depending on the Raman detuning. The oscillating signal was observed over a time of order of tens of milliseconds, and the dependence of the relaxation time on the cell temperature and laser power were investigated. The main features of the experimental observations were well explained by the time-dependent density-matrix equations.

We report on measurements of splitting Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) by using a time-dependent optical lattice potential. First, we demonstrate the division of a BEC into a set of equally populated components by means of time-dependent control of Landau-Zener tunneling in a vertical lattice potential. Next, we apply time-dependent optical Bragg mirrors to a BEC oscillating in a harmonic trap. We demonstrate high-order Bragg reflection of the condensate due to multiphoton Raman transitions, where the depth of the optical lattice potential allows for a choice of the order of the transition. Finally, a combination of multiple Bragg reflections and Landau-Zener tunneling allows for the generation of macroscopic arrays of condensates with potential applications in atom optics and atom interferometry.

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We report theoretical studies of an efficient accumulation of 225 Ra atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) from an atomic beam. The number of atoms in the trap is limited due to the large leakage into metastable D states from the cooling transition and the loss mechanism from collisions with the background gases and with other elements in the atomic beam. We propose a setup consisting of an efficient Zeeman slower, an optical atomic beam deflector, and an Egg-MOT, which provides a large capture velocity, e.g. the Zeeman slower capture velocity of 581 ms −1 and the MOT capture velocity of 46 ms −1 . Furthermore, the pure slow atomic beam produced by the optical atomic beam deflector can maximize the number of trapped atoms and their lifetime in a ultra high vacuum chamber by minimizing the collisional loss. Our proposed setup allows for the search for a permanent electric dipole moment based on laser-cooled and trapped radium atoms with improved sensitivity.