Resonant transfer of large momenta from finite duration pulse sequences

TL;DR

This paper experimentally studies the transfer of large momenta to atoms using finite duration pulse sequences at quantum resonance, demonstrating a predictive scaling law and potential applications in atom interferometry.

Contribution

It introduces an $ ext{ extepsilon}$-pseudoclassical model that accurately describes momentum transfer in finite pulse regimes and identifies optimal parameters beyond traditional approximations.

Findings

Maximal momentum transfer occurs outside short pulse and Bragg regimes.

A simple scaling law predicts momentum transfer effectively.

Achieved splitting of atomic wave-functions by 200 photon recoils.

Abstract

We experimentally investigate the atom optics kicked particle at quantum resonance using finite duration kicks. Even though the underlying process is quantum interference it can be well described by an $\epsilon$-pseudoclassical model. The $\epsilon$-pseudoclassical model agrees well with our experiments for a wide range of parameters. We investigate the parameters yielding maximal momentum transfer to the atoms and find that this occurs in the regime where neither the short pulse approximation nor the Bragg condition is valid. Nonetheless, the momentum transferred to the atoms can be predicted using a simple scaling law, which provides a powerful tool for choosing optimal experimental parameters. We demonstrate this in a measurement of the Talbot time (from which $h/M$ can be deduced), in which we coherently split atomic wave-functions into superpositions of momentum states that differ by 200 photon recoils. Our work may provide a convenient way to implement large momentum difference beam splitters in atom interferometers.