Hannover 2010 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 21: Poster I

Q 21.24: Poster

Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 16:00–19:00, Lichthof

Uniting BECs in a ring cavity — •Christine Gnahm, Simone Bux, Gordon Krenz, Claus Zimmermann, and Philippe A.W. Courteille — Physikalisches Institut, Universität Tübingen

For the realization of the atom laser, consisting of bright coherent matter waves, it is of interest to be able to replenish the source of Bose-Einstein condensate from which the laser beam emerges. This could be done by feeding it from a second independently produced condensate. One obstacle in uniting two independently produced Bose-Einstein condensates is the random relative phase of their macroscopic wave functions. Jaksch et al. [1] propose a scheme in which the phase difference can be damped by a ring cavity acting as an effective zero temperature reservoir. Our aim is to measure this damping in a Ramsey-type experiment. Two condensates in two hyperfine ground states of ⁸⁷Rb are produced. They are coherently coupled by a two photon transition, realized by a microwave-radiofrequency combination. Additionally, they are coupled via a spontaneously decaying intermediate level. One transition of this irreversible Raman process is driven by a light field, the other stimulated by a ring cavity. We will present first experimental results on the way to ultracold fusion of Bose-Einstein condensates.

[1] D. Jaksch, S. A. Gardiner, K. Schluze, J. I. Cirac, and P. Zoller, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 4733 (2001)