Bragg Scattering of Atoms by Counter-Propagating Light Pulses Robust to Variations in Their Areas

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15407/ujpe71.4.283

Keywords:

atomic optics, laser radiation, Bragg transition, light pressure

Abstract

Bragg transitions of a two-level atom in the field of two pairs of counter-propagating light pulses with different carrier frequencies have been studied theoretically. Bragg transitions are treated as coherent multiphoton diffraction processes, in which, under an appropriate tuning to the Bragg resonance, the atomic momentum can change by 2nhk in a single scattering event, whereas single-photon transitions are suppressed due to a large detuning from the resonance. It has been shown that in this configuration, the transition efficiency is practically independent of the pulse area, in contrast to the case of a single pair of pulses. The physical basis of this effect consists in an almost adiabatic interaction of the atom with the field, similarly to the interaction with temporally overlapping counter-propagating pulses with off-resonant carrier frequencies [V.I. Romanenko, L.P. Yatsenko. Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 117, 467 (2000); V.I. Romanenko, L.P. Yatsenko. JETP 90, 407 (2000)]. The possibility of the momentum splitting of an atomic beam, which is robust with respect to variations of light intensity, and of the formation of selective laser mirrors has also been demonstrated. The proposed approach to control atomic motion can be applied to the study of interference phenomena in atomic optics.

References

1. L. Allen, J.H. Eberly. Optical Resonance and Two- Level Atoms (John Wiley and Sons, 1975).

2. V.I. Romanenko, L.P. Yatsenko. Scattering of atoms in a bichromatic field of oppositely propagating light pulses. J. Experimental and Theor. Phys. 90, 407 (2000).

https://doi.org/10.1134/1.559120

3. G. Demeter, G.P. Djotyan, Z. S¨orlei, J.S. Bakos. Mechanical effect of retroreflected frequency chirped laser pulses on two-lovel atoms. Phys. Rev. A 74, 013401 (2006).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.74.013401

4. V.I. Romanenko, L.P. Yatsenko. Coherent momentum transfer due to interaction between three-level atoms and counterpropagating laser pulses. J. Experimental and Theor. Phys. 100, 242 (2005).

https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1884666

5. D.M. Giltner, R.W. McGowan, S.A. Lee. Theoretical and experimental study of the Bragg scattering light wave. Phys. Rev. A 52, 3966 (1995).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.52.3966

6. T. Kovachy, S.-w. Chiow, M.A. Kasevich. Adiabatic-rapidpassage multiphoton Bragg atom optics. Phys. Rev. A 86, 011606 (2012),

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.86.011606

7. J. Dalibard, Y. Castin, K. Mølmer. Wave-function approach to dissipative processes in quantum optics. Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 580 (1992).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.68.580

8. K. Mølmer, Y. Castin, J. Dalibard. Monte Carlo wavefunction method in quantum optics. JOSA B 10, 524 (1993).

https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAB.10.000524

9. B. Shore. The Theory of Coherent Atomic Excitation, Vol. 1 (Wiley, 1990).

https://doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29400

10. V.I. Romanenko. Stimulated Raman adiabatic passage in phase-fluctuating fields. Ukr. J. Phys. 51, 1054 (2006).

11. S. Gu'erin, L.P. Yatsenko, H.R. Jauslin. Dynamical resonances and the topology of the multiphoton adiabatic passage. Phys. Rev. A 63, 031403 (2001).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.63.031403

12. S. Gu'erin, H.R. Jauslin. Control of Quantum Dynamics by Laser Pulses: Adiabatic Floquet Theory (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2003) [ISBN: 9780471428022].

https://doi.org/10.1002/0471428027.ch3

13. L.P. Yatsenko, B.W. Shore, N.V. Vitanov, K. Bergmann. Retroreflection-induced bichromatic adiabatic passage. Phys. Rev. A 68, 043405 (2003).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.68.043405

14. G. Demeter, G.P. Djotyan. Multiphoton adiabatic passage for atom optics applications. J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 26, 867 (2009).

https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAB.26.000867

15. K. Varga-Umbrich, J.S. Bakos, G.P. Djotyan, Z. S¨orlei, G. Demeter, P.N. Ign'acz, B. R'aczkevi, J. Szigeti, M.A. Kedves. Coherent manipulation of trapped Rb atoms by overlapping frequency-chirped laser pulses: Theory and experiment. Europ. Phys. J. D 76, 70 (2022).

https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-022-00386-7

16. G. Louie, Z. Chen, T. Deshpande, T. Kovachy. Robust atom optics for Bragg atom interferometry. New J. Phys. 25, 083017 (2023).

https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aceb15

17. L.D. Landau. Zur Theorie der Energie¨ubertragung II. Physikalische Zeitschrift der Sowjetunion 2, 46 (1932).

18. C. Zener. Non-adiabatic crossing of energy levels. In: Proc. of the Royal Society of London. Series A 137, 696 (1932).

https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.1932.0165

19. V.I. Romanenko, N.V. Kornilovska, L.P. Yatsenko. Controlling atomic wave interference by counter-propagating light pulses of different carrier frequencies. Europ. Phys. J. D 79, 9 (2025).

https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-025-00956-5

20. H.J. Metcalf, P. van der Straten. Laser Cooling and Trapping, Graduate Texts in Contemporary Physics (Springer, 1999) [ISBN: 978-0-387-98747-7, 978-0-387-98728-6].

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1470-0

21. H. Katori, T. Ido, Y. Isoya, M. Kuwata-Gonokami. Magneto-optical trapping and cooling of strontium atoms down to the photon recoil temperature. Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 1116 (1999).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.1116

22. T. Ido, Y. Isoya, H. Katori. Optical-dipole trapping of Sr atoms at a high phase-space density. Phys. Rev. A 61, 061403(R) (2000).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.61.061403

23. A.D. Ludlow, M.M. Boyd, J. Ye, E. Peik, P.O. Schmidt. Optical atomic clocks. Rev. Mod. Phys. 87, 637 (2015).

https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.87.637

Published

2026-04-21

Issue

Section

Contents

How to Cite

Bragg Scattering of Atoms by Counter-Propagating Light Pulses Robust to Variations in Their Areas. (2026). Ukrainian Journal of Physics, 71(4), 283. https://doi.org/10.15407/ujpe71.4.283

Most read articles by the same author(s)