Abstract
Most studies on optical lattices1 are performed with lasers tuned on the red side of a transition connecting a ground level having an angular momentum J toward an excited state of angular momentum J + 1. In this case, the optical potential usually exhibits wells where atoms are located. The typical dynamical behavior of an atom consists of oscillations in a well interrupted by jumps between wells. In the case of a transition connecting a ground level having an angular momentum J toward an excited state of angular momentum J − 1, cooling can also be achieved on the blue side of the transition,2 but the lowest potential is flat because of the occurrence of an uncoupled state. When a static magnetic field is added, the optical potential becomes modulated, but it generally exhibits antidots3 rather than wells, as shown in the Fig. 1. As a result, atoms are free to move between the antidots. Actually atom trajectories calculated by numerical simulation show that atoms move by bouncing on the antidots as balls in billiards (Fig. 2). We present experimental and numerical evidence of such trajectories.
© 1998 Optical Society of America
PDF ArticleMore Like This
C. Triché, L. Guidoni, K. I. Petsas, C. Jurczak, J. Y. Courtois, and G. Grynberg
QWC26 European Quantum Electronics Conference (EQEC) 1998
C. Triché and G. Grynberg
QFD1 International Quantum Electronics Conference (IQEC) 1998
I. H. Deutsch and P.S. Jessen
QFD2 International Quantum Electronics Conference (IQEC) 1998