No Arabic abstract
Collective effects in atom-light interaction is of great importance for cold-atom-based quantum devices or fundamental studies on light transport in complex media. Here we discuss and compare three different approaches to light scattering by dilute cold atomic ensembles. The first approach is a coupled-dipole model, valid at low intensity, which includes cooperative effects, like superradiance, and other coherent properties. The second one is a random-walk model, which includes classical multiple scattering and neglects coherence effects. The third approach is a crude approximation only based on the attenuation of the excitation beam inside the medium, the so-called shadow effect. We show that in the case of a low-density sample, the random walk approach is an excellent approximation for steady-state light scattering, and that the shadow effect surprisingly gives rather accurate results at least up to optical depths on the order of 15.
Light field microscopy methods together with three dimensional (3D) deconvolution can be used to obtain single shot 3D images of atomic clouds. We demonstrate the method using a test setup which extracts three dimensional images from a fluorescent $^{87}$Rb atomic vapor.
We calculate the relative permittivity of a cold atomic gas under weak probe illumination, up to second order in the density. Within the framework of a diagrammatic representation method, we identify all the second order diagrams that enter into the description of the relative permittivity for coherent light transmission. These diagrams originate from pairwise position correlation and recurrent scattering. Using coupled dipole equations, we numerically simulate the coherent transmission with scalar and vector waves, and find good agreement with the perturbative calculations. We applied this perturbative expansion approach to a classical gas at rest, but the method is extendable to thermal gas with finite atomic motion and to quantum gases where non-trivial pair correlations can be naturally included.
We report investigation of near-resonance light scattering from a cold and dense atomic gas of $^{87}$Rb atoms. Measurements are made for probe frequencies tuned near the $F=2to F=3$ nearly closed hyperfine transition, with particular attention paid to the dependence of the scattered light intensity on detuning from resonance, the number of atoms in the sample, and atomic sample size. We find that, over a wide range of experimental variables, the optical depth of the atomic sample serves as an effective single scaling parameter which describes well all the experimental data.
We report the efficient and fast ($sim 2mathrm{Hz}$) preparation of randomly loaded 1D chains of individual $^{87}$Rb atoms and of dense atomic clouds trapped in optical tweezers using a new experimental platform. This platform is designed for the study of both structured and disordered atomic systems in free space. It is composed of two high-resolution optical systems perpendicular to each other, enhancing observation and manipulation capabilities. The setup includes a dynamically controllable telescope, which we use to vary the tweezer beam waist. A D1 $Lambda$-enhanced gray molasses enhances the loading of the traps from a magneto-optical trap. Using these tools, we prepare chains of up to $sim 100$ atoms separated by $sim 1 mathrm{mu m}$ by retro-reflecting the tweezer light, hence producing a 1D optical lattice with strong transverse confinement. Dense atomic clouds with peak densities up to $n_0 = 10^{15}:mathrm{at}/mathrm{cm}^3$ are obtained by compression of an initial cloud. This high density results into interatomic distances smaller than $lambda/(2pi)$ for the D2 optical transitions, making it ideal to study light-induced interactions in dense samples.
Besides being a source of energy, light can also cool gases of atoms down to the lowest temperatures ever measured, where atomic motion almost stops. The research field of cold atoms has emerged as a multidisciplinary one, highly relevant, e.g., for precision measurements, quantum gases, simulations of many-body physics, and atom optics. In this focus article, we present the field as seen in 2015, and emphasise the fundamental role in its development that has been played by mastering.