Abstract

We introduce a tunnel lock that can be exploited to divide, delay, and alter the direction of traveling clouds of cold atoms. This versatile free-space element is implemented by crossing two atom tunnels formed by low-intensity, blue-detuned dark-hollow (Bessel mode) laser beams. We show that clouds of cold Rb atoms initially moving within one tunnel can be transferred to the other without heating by gating the intensities of the two tunnels-a tunnel lock-with an efficiency limited by the overlap volume. The element also can be used to divide a single cloud into smaller clouds, each having a distinct momentum.

Publication Details
Publication Type
Journal Article
Year of Publication
2007
Volume
75
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevA.75.061604
Journal
Physical Review A
Contributors