Abstract
We report on a phase-sensitive probe absorption technique with high sensitivity, capable of detecting a few hundred ultra-cold atoms in flight in an observation time of a few milliseconds. The large signal-to-noise ratio achieved is sufficient for reliable measurements on low intensity beams of cold atoms. We demonstrate the high sensitivity and figure of merit of the simple method by measuring the time-of-flight of atoms moving upwards from a magneto-optical trap released in the gravitational field
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
H J Metcalf and P Van Der Straten,Laser cooling and trapping (Springer, New York, 1999) and references therein
Z T Lu, K L Corwin, M J Renn, M H Anderson, E A Cornell and C E Wieman,Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3331 (1996)
K Dieckmann, R J C Spreeuw, M Weidemuller and J T M Walrnaven,Phys. Rev. A58, 3891 (1998)
T Lahaye, J M Vogels, K Gunter, Z Wang, J Dalibard and D Guery-Odelin,Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 093003 (2004)
S Chaudhuri, S Roy and C S Unnikrishnan, TIFR Preprint, available at www.tifr.res.in/~filab
P D Lett, W D Phillips, S L Rolston, C E Tanner, R N Watts and C I Westbrook,J. Opt. Soc. Am. B6, 2085 (1989)
C Salomon, J Dalibard, W D Phillips, A Clairon and S Guellati,Europhys. Lett. 12, 683 (1990)
T M Brzozowski, M Maczynska, M Zawada, J Zachorowski and W Gawlik,J. Opt. B: Quantum Semiclass. Opt. 4, 62 (2002)
D J Wineland, W M Itano and J C Bergquist,Opt. Lett. 12, 389 (1987)
W Alt, D Schrader, S Kuhr, M Müller, V Gomer and D Meschede,Phys. Rev. A67, 033403 (2003)
A Boca, R Miller, K M Birnbaum, A D Boozer, J McKeever and H J Kimble,Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 233603 (2004)
M Münstermann, T Fischer, P W H Pinkse and G Rempe,Opt. Commun. 159, 63 (1999)
A K Mohapatra and C S Unnikrishnan,Europhys. Lett. 73, 839 (2006)
C I Sukenik, M G Boshier, D Cho, V Sandoghdar and E A Hinds,Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 560 (1993)
A Landragin, Y Courtios, G Labeyrie, N Vansteenkite, C I Westbrook and A Aspect,Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 1464 (1996)
F Shimizu,Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 987 (2001)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mohapatra, A.K., Unnikrishnan, C.S. High sensitivity probe absorption technique for time-of-flight measurements on cold atoms. Pramana - J Phys 66, 1027–1035 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02708456
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02708456