Hamburg 2009 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 1: Mikromechanische Oszillatoren
Q 1.4: Vortrag
Montag, 2. März 2009, 11:30–11:45, ESA-A
Coupling of Bose-Einstein condensates to a micromechanical cantilever via atom-surface forces — •David Hunger1,2, Stephan Camerer1,2, Daniel König2, Jörg P. Kotthaus2, Jakob Reichel3, Theodor W. Hänsch1,2, and Philipp Treutlein1,2 — 1Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Garching — 2Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München — 3Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, E.N.S., Paris
Micro- and nanostructured mechanical oscillators are presently approaching the quantum regime, driven by the continuous improvement of techniques to read out and cool mechanical motion. By coupling mechanical oscillators to ultracold atoms, hybrid quantum systems could be formed, in which the atoms are used to cool, read out, and coherently manipulate the oscillators' state. For the experimental realization of such systems it is important to investigate different coupling mechanisms.
Here we report experiments in which the vibrations of a classically driven micromechanical oscillator are coupled to the motion of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a magnetic microtrap on a chip. The coupling relies on surface forces experienced by atoms at (sub-) micrometer distance from the mechanical structure. We observe parametric resonances induced by the coupling, corresponding to different mechanical modes of the atoms. Coupling via surface forces does not require functionalization of the oscillator with magnets, electrodes, or mirrors, and could thus be employed to strongly couple atoms to carbon nanotubes or other molecular-scale oscillators.