Heidelberg 1999 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help

Q: Quantenoptik

Q 34: Atomoptik II

Q 34.3: Talk

Thursday, March 18, 1999, 14:45–15:00, PH5

A Beam Splitter for Guided Atoms — •Donatella Cassettari, Alexander Chenet, Stefan Schneider, Johannes Denschlag, and Jörg Schmiedmayer — Institut für Experimentalphysik, Universität Innsbruck

One of the key elements in atom optics is a beam splitter. Up to now beam splitters were only demonstrated for atoms moving in free space. Starting from our very versatile magnetic guides using current carrying wires [1] we built a beam splitter for guided atoms by combining two guides in the form of a Y. By controlling the current through the arms of the Y shaped structure we can send cold Li atoms along either arms of the Y or split the beam into two.

This work was supported by the Austrian Science Foundation (FWF), project S065-05, the Jubiläums Fonds der Österreichischen Nationalbank, project 6400, and by the European Union, contract Nr. TMRX-CT96-0002.

[1] J. Schmiedmayer in IQEC XVIII Technical Digest, Series 1992, Vol. 9, 284 (1992); Phys. Rev. A 52, R13 (1995); J. Denschlag, D. Cassettari, Jörg Schmiedmayer, quant-ph/9809076.