Abstract
A superfluid atomic gas is prepared inside an optical resonator with an ultranarrow bandwidth on the order of the single photon recoil energy. When a monochromatic off-resonant laser beam irradiates the atoms, above a critical intensity the cavity emits superradiant light pulses with a duration on the order of its photon storage time. The atoms are collectively scattered into coherent superpositions of discrete momentum states, which can be precisely controlled by adjusting the cavity resonance frequency. With appropriate pulse sequences the entire atomic sample can be collectively accelerated or decelerated by multiples of two recoil momenta. The instability boundary for the onset of matter wave superradiance is recorded and its main features are explained by a mean field model.
- Received 27 May 2014
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.070404
© 2014 American Physical Society
Synopsis
Supercontrol of superradiance
Published 12 August 2014
Precise control of coherent states of both light and matter is achieved by placing a Bose-Einstein condensate in a narrow-band optical cavity.
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