Coherent backscattering of light by an inhomogeneous cloud of cold atoms
- Laboratoire Ondes et Desordre, FRE 2302 du CNRS, 1361 route des Lucioles, 06560 Valbonne (France)
- Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Case 74, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris (France)
When a quasiresonant laser beam illuminates an optically thick cloud of laser-cooled rubidium atoms, the average diffuse intensity reflected off the sample is enhanced in a narrow angular range around the direction of exact backscattering. This phenomenon is known as coherent backscattering (CBS). By detuning the laser from resonance, we are able to modify the light scattering mean-free path inside the sample and we record accordingly the variations of the CBS cone shape. We then compare the experimental data with theoretical calculations and Monte Carlo simulations including the effect of the light polarization and of the internal structure of the atoms. We confirm that the internal structure strongly affects the enhancement factor of the cone and we show that the unusual shape of the atomic medium--approximately a spherically-symmetric, Gaussian density profile--strongly affects the width and shape of the cone.
- OSTI ID:
- 20633890
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. A, Vol. 67, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.67.033814; (c) 2003 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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