Atom Optics, from Atomic Mirrors to Quantum Atom Optics

by Alain Aspect (Institut d'Optique d'Orsay)

Thursday 29 Nov 2001, 16:30 → 17:30 Europe/Zurich

500/1-001 - Main Auditorium (CERN)

Atom Optics deals with atoms like photon optics deals with light. Among the optics components, the mirror is especially important, provided that it is able to preserve the coherence of the reflected atomic matter waves. I will present some experiments that have allowed us to characterize specular vs diffuse reflection in an atomic mirror, and I will show how to understand these phenomenon in the framework of a matter wave description. As in photon optics, these experiments would be more accurate if one could use a perfectly coherent atomic source: we need an atomic laser. In the second part of this talk, I explain how we can produce a quasi-continuous atom laser. Our atom laser is obtained by coherent extraction of atoms from a trapped Bose Einstein Condensate, as a standard laser beam is produced by coherently outcoupling the photons out of the laser cavity. Several recent experiments emphasize analogies with photon lasers. Finally, I will describe our recent achievement of the first Bose Einstein Condensate of a metastable atom. Because of the large content of internal electronic energy (20 eV in our case of metastable Helium), it becomes possible to achieve single atom detection. In analogy with photon optics, where single photon counting paved the way for quantum optics, we think that this new detection scheme opens new roads for quantum atom optics.

Organiser(s): Daniel Treille / EP Division

Note: * Tea & coffee will be served at 16.00 hrs.