Atomic momentum patterns with narrower interval

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how tailored standing wave pulses can produce atomic momentum patterns with narrower intervals than traditional methods, enabling improved atomic manipulation and measurement.

Contribution

It introduces a method to generate narrower atomic momentum intervals using designed pulses on superposed Bloch states in an optical lattice.

Findings

Experimental results match theoretical simulations.

Narrower momentum peaks are achieved compared to standard recoil intervals.

Multi-mode patterns assist in precise atomic measurements.

Abstract

We studied the atomic momentum distribution for a superposition of Bloch states spreading in the lowest band of an optical lattice after the action of the standing wave pulse. By designing the imposing pulse on this superposed state, an atomic momentum pattern appears with narrower interval between the adjacent peaks that can be far less than the double recoil momentum. The patterns with narrower interval come from the superposition of the action of the designed pulse on many Bloch states with quasi-momenta over the first Brillouin zone, where for each quasi-momentum there is an interference among several lowest bands. Our experimental result of narrow interval peaks is consistent with the theoretical simulation. The patterns of multi modes with different quasi-momenta are helpful for precise measurement and atomic manipulation.