Matter wave scattering on an amplitude-modulated optical lattice

Pierrick Cheiney (1) , Charlotte Fabre (1) , Francois Vermersch (1) , Giovanni L. Gattobigio (1, 2) , Renaud Mathevet (1) , Thierry Lahaye (1) , David Guéry-Odelin (1)

1 Atomes Froids (LCAR)
2 LCAR - Laboratoire Collisions Agrégats Réactivité

We experimentally study the scattering of guided matter waves on an amplitude-modulated optical lattice. We observe different types of frequency-dependent dips in the asymptotic output density distribution. Their positions are compared quantitatively with numerical simulations. A semiclassical model that combines \emph{local} Floquet-Bloch bands analysis and Landau-Zener transitions provides a simple picture of the observed phenomena in terms of elementary \emph{Floquet photon} absorption-emission processes and envelope-induced reflections. Finally, we propose and demonstrate the use of this technique with a bichromatic modulation to design a tunable sub-recoil velocity filter. Such a filter can be transposed to all species since it does not rely on a specific internal level configuration of the atoms.

Domaines: Autre [cond-mat.other]; Physique Quantique [quant-ph]; Gaz Quantiques [cond-mat.quant-gas]

Pierrick Cheiney, Charlotte Fabre, Francois Vermersch, Giovanni L. Gattobigio, Renaud Mathevet, et al.. Matter wave scattering on an amplitude-modulated optical lattice. Physical Review A : Atomic, molecular, and optical physics [1990-2015], 2013, 87, pp.013623. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevA.87.013623⟩. ⟨hal-00708994v2⟩