Optical manipulation of matter waves

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Akbari, Kamran, Di Giulio, Valerio, de Abajo, F. Javier García
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2022
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author Akbari, Kamran
Di Giulio, Valerio
de Abajo, F. Javier García
author_facet Akbari, Kamran
Di Giulio, Valerio
de Abajo, F. Javier García
contents Light is extensively used to steer the motion of atoms in free space, enabling cooling and trapping of matter waves through ponderomotive forces and Doppler-mediated photon scattering. Likewise, light interaction with free electrons has recently emerged as a versatile approach to modulate the electron wave function for applications in ultrafast electron microscopy. Here, we combine these two worlds by theoretically demonstrating that matter waves can be optically manipulated via inelastic interactions with optical fields, allowing us to modulate the translational wave function and produce temporally and spatially compressed atomic beam pulses. Specifically, we realize such modulation through stimulated photon absorption and emission by atoms traversing phase-matching evanescent optical fields generated upon light scattering by a nanostructure, but also via stimulated Compton scattering in free space without any assistance from material media. Our results support optical manipulation of matter waves as a powerful tool for microscopy, spectroscopy, and the exploration of novel fundamental phenomena associated with light-atom interactions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2203_07257
institution arXiv
publishDate 2022
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Optical manipulation of matter waves
Akbari, Kamran
Di Giulio, Valerio
de Abajo, F. Javier García
Optics
Quantum Physics
Light is extensively used to steer the motion of atoms in free space, enabling cooling and trapping of matter waves through ponderomotive forces and Doppler-mediated photon scattering. Likewise, light interaction with free electrons has recently emerged as a versatile approach to modulate the electron wave function for applications in ultrafast electron microscopy. Here, we combine these two worlds by theoretically demonstrating that matter waves can be optically manipulated via inelastic interactions with optical fields, allowing us to modulate the translational wave function and produce temporally and spatially compressed atomic beam pulses. Specifically, we realize such modulation through stimulated photon absorption and emission by atoms traversing phase-matching evanescent optical fields generated upon light scattering by a nanostructure, but also via stimulated Compton scattering in free space without any assistance from material media. Our results support optical manipulation of matter waves as a powerful tool for microscopy, spectroscopy, and the exploration of novel fundamental phenomena associated with light-atom interactions.
title Optical manipulation of matter waves
topic Optics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.07257