Projects per year
Abstract
We present an experimental and theoretical investigation of spontaneous pattern formation in the transverse section of a single retro-reflected laser beam passing through a cloud of cold Rubidium atoms. In contrast to previously investigated systems, the nonlinearity at work here is that of a 2-level atom, which realizes the paradigmatic situation considered in many theoretical studies of optical pattern formation. In particular, we are able to observe the disappearance of the patterns at high intensity due to the intrinsic saturable character of 2-level atomic transitions.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Physical Review A |
Publication status | Accepted/In press - 2015 |
Keywords
- spontaneous pattern forming
- retro reflected laser beams
- optical pattern formation
- atomic transitions
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Dive into the research topics of 'Optical pattern formation with a 2-level nonlinearity'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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Cooperative effects and nonlinear optics in dense ensembles of cold atoms
Ackemann, T., Arnold, A., Firth, W., Oppo, G. & Robb, G.
1/06/11 → 31/05/14
Project: Research