Atom laser divergence
Condensed Matter
2009-11-07 v3 Atomic Physics
Abstract
We measure the angular divergence of a quasi-continuous, rf-outcoupled, free-falling atom laser as a function of the outcoupling frequency. The data is compared to a Gaussian-beam model of laser propagation that generalizes the standard formalism of photonic lasers. Our treatment includes diffraction, magnetic lensing, and interaction between the atom laser and the condensate. We find that the dominant source of divergence is the condensate-laser interaction.
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0107032,
title = {Atom laser divergence},
author = {Y. Le Coq and J. H. Thywissen and S. A. Rangwala and F. Gerbier and S. Richard and G. Delannoy and P. Bouyer and A. Aspect},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0107032},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
5 pages, 3 figures. V3: as will appear in Phys. Rev. Lett.; RevTeX 4.0