Observation of Atom Pairs in Spontaneous Four-Wave Mixing of Two Colliding Bose-Einstein Condensates

Journal Article · Fri Oct 12 00:00:00 EDT 2007 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.99.150405· OSTI ID:21024253

Perrin, A; Chang, H; Krachmalnicoff, V; Schellekens, M; Boiron, D; Aspect, A; Westbrook, C I ^[1]

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1. Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique, CNRS, Univ Paris-Sud, Campus Polytechnique, RD128, 91127 Palaiseau cedex (France)

We study atom scattering from two colliding Bose-Einstein condensates using a position sensitive, time resolved, single atom detector. In analogy to quantum optics, the process can also be thought of as spontaneous, degenerate four-wave mixing of de Broglie waves. We find a clear correlation between atoms with opposite momenta, demonstrating pair production in the scattering process. We also observe a Hanbury Brown-Twiss correlation for collinear momenta, which permits an independent measurement of the size of the pair production source and thus the size of the spatial mode. The back-to-back pairs occupy very nearly two oppositely directed spatial modes, a promising feature for future quantum optics experiments.

• OSTI ID: 21024253
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 99, Issue 15; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.150405; (c) 2007 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ATOMS
BEAM OPTICS
BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATION
CORRELATIONS
FREQUENCY MIXING
QUANTUM MECHANICS
SCATTERING
TIME RESOLUTION