Diffraction of a Bose-Einstein condensate in the time domain

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Diffraction of a Bose-Einstein condensate in the time domain

Yves Colombe, Brigitte Mercier, Hélène Perrin, and Vincent Lorent

Phys. Rev. A 72, 061601(R) – Published 5 December 2005

Abstract

We have observed the diffraction of a Bose-Einstein condensate of rubidium atoms on a vibrating mirror potential. The matter wave packet bounces back at normal incidence on a blue-detuned evanescent light field after a $3.6 mm$ free fall. The mirror vibrates at a frequency of $500 kHz$ with an amplitude of $3 nm$ . The atomic carrier and side bands are directly imaged during their ballistic expansion. The locations and the relative weights of the diffracted atomic wave packets are in very good agreement with the theoretical prediction of Henkel et al. [J. Phys. II 4, 1877 (1994)].

Received 29 July 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.72.061601

Authors & Affiliations

Yves Colombe^*, Brigitte Mercier^†, Hélène Perrin, and Vincent Lorent^‡

Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, UMR 7538 du CNRS, Institut Galilée, Université Paris-Nord, Avenue J.-B. Clément, F-93430 Villetaneuse, France

^*Present address: Sektion Physik der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Schellingstrasse 4, D-80799 München, Germany.
^†Present address: Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquée, Centre de l’Yvette, F-91761 Palaiseau Cedex, France.
^‡Electronic address: lorent@galilee.univ-paris13.fr

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Issue

Vol. 72, Iss. 6 — December 2005

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