17 research outputs found
Engineered quantum tunnelling in extended periodic potentials
Quantum tunnelling from a tilted, but otherwise periodic potential is
studied. Our theoretical and experimental results show that, by controlling the
system's parameters, we can engineer the escape rate of a Bose-Einstein
condensate to an exceptional degree. Possible applications of this atom-optics
realization of the open Wannier-Stark system are discussed.Comment: 6 pp, proceedings DICE 11-15 September 2006, Castello di Piombino,
Tuscany, Ital
AC-induced superfluidity
We argue that a system of ultracold bosonic atoms in a tilted optical lattice
can become superfluid in response to resonant AC forcing. Among others, this
allows one to prepare a Bose-Einstein condensate in a state associated with a
negative effective mass. Our reasoning is backed by both exact numerical
simulations for systems consisting of few particles, and by a theoretical
approach based on Floquet-Fock states.Comment: Accepted for publication in Europhysics letters, 6 pages, 4 figures,
Changes in v2: reference 7 replaced by a more recent on
Ion microscopy based on laser-cooled cesium atoms
We demonstrate a prototype of a Focused Ion Beam machine based on the ionization of a laser-cooled cesium beam and adapted for imaging and modifying different surfaces in the few-tens nanometer range. Efficient atomic ionization is obtained by laser promoting ground-state atoms into a target excited Rydberg state, then field-ionizing them in an electric field gradient. The method allows obtaining ion currents up to 130 pA. Comparison with the standard direct photo-ionization of the atomic beam shows, in our conditions, a 40-times larger ion yield. Preliminary imaging results at ion energies in the 1–5 keV range are obtained with a resolution around 40 nm, in the present version of the prototype. Our ion beam is expected to be extremely monochromatic, with an energy spread of the order of the eV, offering great prospects for lithography, imaging and surface analysis
Bloch oscillations and mean-field effects of Bose-Einstein condensates in 1-D optical lattices
We have loaded Bose-Einstein condensates into one-dimensional, off-resonant
optical lattices and accelerated them by chirping the frequency difference
between the two lattice beams. For small values of the lattice well-depth,
Bloch oscillations were observed. Reducing the potential depth further,
Landau-Zener tunneling out of the lowest lattice band, leading to a breakdown
of the oscillations, was also studied and used as a probe for the effective
potential resulting from mean-field interactions as predicted by Choi and Niu
[Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 82}, 2022 (1999)]. The effective potential was measured
for various condensate densities and trap geometries, yielding good qualitative
agreement with theoretical calculations.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; accepted for publication in Physical Review
Letter
Autoantibodies in multiple sclerosis patients before and during IFN-\u3b21b treatment: Are they correlated with the occurrence of autoimmune diseases?
Bose-Einstein condensation of rubidium atoms in a triaxial TOP trap
We report the results of experiments with Bose-Einstein condensates of
rubidium atoms in a triaxial TOP-trap, presenting measurements of the
condensate fraction and the free expansion of a condensate released from the
trap. The experimental apparatus and the methods used to calibrate the magnetic
trapping fields are discussed in detail. Furthermore, we compare the
performance of our apparatus with other TOP-traps and discuss possible limiting
factors for the sizes of condensates achievable in such traps.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures ; submitted to J.Phys.