Specular Reflection of Very Slow Metastable Neon Atoms from a Solid Surface

Shimizu, Fujio

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.86.987

Cited by 291 publications

(285 citation statements)

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“…Moreover, the van der Waals atom-surface interaction has also been recently studied due to their influence on the quantum reflection of ultracold atoms on surfaces. 5 In fact, the upsurge of interest on Bose-Einstein condensation of ultracold atoms confined in magnetic traps 6 near a surface should fuel research on atom-surface dispersion interactions, since they are key factors for the stability of the condensate. They are also key ingredients in the building and functioning of many of the systems relevant for the emerging fields of nanotechnology and biotechnology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cluster-surface and cluster-cluster interactions:Ab initiocalculations and modeling of asymptotic van der Waals forces

et al. 2008

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We present fully ab initio calculations of van der Waals coefficients for two different situations: ͑i͒ the interaction between hydrogenated silicon clusters and ͑ii͒ the interactions between these nanostructures and a nonmetallic surface ͑a silicon or a silicon carbide surface͒. The methods used are very efficient and allow the calculation of systems containing hundreds of atoms. The results obtained are further analyzed and understood with the help of simple models. These models can be of interest for molecular-dynamics simulations of silicon nanostructures on surfaces, where they can give a very fast yet sufficiently accurate determination of the van der Waals interaction at large separations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cluster-surface and cluster-cluster interactions:Ab initiocalculations and modeling of asymptotic van der Waals forces

et al. 2008

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“…Indeed, changing the frequency of the outcoupler allows one to tune the value of the de Broglie wavelength of the atom laser, and adjusting the rf coupler power allows one to independently vary the atom-laser density from the interacting regime to the noninteracting one [17]. In particular, those advantages opens new prospects for studying quantum transport phenomena, as, for instance, quantum reflection [18], where interactions dramatically suppress the reflection probability [19]. Finally, in spite of the lensing effect due to the interaction of the atom laser with the trapped BEC [3,20], adiabatic transverse mode matching results into the excitation of only a small number of transverse modes, and we discuss the possibility of achieving single transverse mode operation.…”

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confidence: 99%

Guided Quasicontinuous Atom Laser

et al. 2006

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We report the first realization of a guided quasicontinuous atom laser by rf outcoupling a BEC, from a hybrid optomagnetic trap into a horizontal atomic waveguide. This configuration allows us to cancel the acceleration due to gravity and keep the de Broglie wavelength constant at 0.5 µm during 0.1 s of propagation. We also show that our configuration, equivalent to pigtailing an optical fiber to a (photon) semiconductor laser, ensures an intrinsically good transverse mode matching.PACS numbers: 03.75. Pp, 39.20.+q, 42.60.Jf,41.85.Ew The Bose-Einstein condensation of atoms in the lowest level of a trap represents the matter-wave analog to the accumulation of photons in a single mode of a laser cavity. In analogy to photonic lasers, atom lasers can be obtained by outcoupling from a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) to free space [1,2,3]. However, since atoms are massive particles, gravity plays an important role in the laser properties: in the case of rf outcouplers, it lies at the very heart of the extraction process [4] and in general, the beam is strongly accelerated downwards, causing a rapid decrease of the de Broglie wavelength. With the growing interest in coherent atom sources for atom interferometry [5,6,7] and new studies of quantum transport phenomena [8,9,10,11,12,13,14] where large and well defined de Broglie wavelength are desirable, a better control of the atomic motion during its propagation is needed. One solution is to couple the atom laser into a horizontal waveguide, so that the effect of gravity is canceled, leading to the realization of a coherent matter wave with constant wavelength.We report in this letter on the realization of such a guided quasicontinuous atom laser, where the coherent source, i.e. the trapped BEC, and the guide are merged together in a hybrid combination of a magnetic Ioffe-Pritchard trap and a horizontally elongated far offresonance optical trap constituting an atomic waveguide (see Fig. 1). The BEC, in a state sensitive to both trapping potentials, is submitted to a rf outcoupler yielding atoms in a state sensitive only to the optical potential, resulting in an atom laser propagating along the weak confining axis of the optical trap. In addition to canceling the effect of gravity, this configuration has several advantages. Firstly, coupling into a guide from a BEC rather than from a thermal sample [15] allows us to couple a significant flux into a small number of transverse modes of the guide. Secondly, the weak longitudinal trapping potential of the guide can be compensated by the antitrapping potential due to the second order Zeeman effect acting onto the outcoupled atoms, resulting in an atom laser with a quasiconstant de Broglie wavelength. Thirdly, using an rf outcoupler rather than releasing a BEC into a guide [14,16] results into quasicontinuous operation, thus insuring sharp linewidth, and gives a better control on the beam parameters. Indeed, changing the frequency of the outcoupler allows one to tune the value of the de Broglie wavelength of the atom...

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“…Several experiments can now test these predictions. Atoms transmitted through a cavity ͑Anderson et Sukenik et al, 1993͒, atoms diffracted from a material grating Grisenti, Schöllkopf, Toennies, Manson, et al, 2000;Shimizu, 2001;Bruehl et al, 2002;Cronin and Perreault, 2004;Perreault et al, 2005͒, atoms undergoing quantam reflection ͑Anderson et al, 1986Berkhout et al, 1989;Shimizu, 2001;Shimizu and Fujita, 2002a;Druzhinina and DeKieviet, 2003;Pasquini et al, 2006͒, atoms reflecting from evanescent waves near surfaces ͑Hajnal et al, 1989;Kaiser et al, 1996;Westbrook et al, 1998;Esteve et al, 2004͒, atoms trapped near surfaces ͑Lin et al, 2004McGuirk et al, 2004;Harber et al, 2005͒, andatoms in interferometers ͑Brezger et al, 2002;Kohno et al, 2003;Nairz et al, 2003;Cronin, 2005, 2006͒ have been used to measure atom-surface interaction potentials. For a review of experiments see the CAMS ͑2005͒ proceedings.…”

Section: Casimir-polder (Atom-surface) Potentialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optics and Interferometry with Atoms and Molecules

Schmiedmayer

2001

Atomic and Molecular Beams

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Interference with atomic and molecular matter waves is a rich branch of atomic physics and quantum optics. It started with atom diffraction from crystal surfaces and the separated oscillatory fields technique used in atomic clocks. Atom interferometry is now reaching maturity as a powerful art with many applications in modern science. In this review the basic tools for coherent atom optics are described including diffraction by nanostructures and laser light, three-grating interferometers, and double wells on atom chips. Scientific advances in a broad range of fields that have resulted from the application of atom interferometers are reviewed. These are grouped in three categories: ͑i͒ fundamental quantum science, ͑ii͒ precision metrology, and ͑iii͒ atomic and molecular physics. Although some experiments with Bose-Einstein condensates are included, the focus of the review is on linear matter wave optics, i.e., phenomena where each single atom interferes with itself.

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Specular Reflection of Very Slow Metastable Neon Atoms from a Solid Surface

Cited by 291 publications

References 25 publications

Cluster-surface and cluster-cluster interactions:Ab initiocalculations and modeling of asymptotic van der Waals forces

Cluster-surface and cluster-cluster interactions:Ab initiocalculations and modeling of asymptotic van der Waals forces

Guided Quasicontinuous Atom Laser

Optics and Interferometry with Atoms and Molecules

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