TY - JOUR
T1 - Coherent control of ultracold collisions with chirped light
T2 - Direction matters
AU - Wright, M. J.
AU - Pechkis, J. A.
AU - Carini, J. L.
AU - Kallush, S.
AU - Kosloff, R.
AU - Gould, P. L.
PY - 2007/5/4
Y1 - 2007/5/4
N2 - We demonstrate the ability to coherently control ultracold atomic Rb collisions using frequency-chirped light on the nanosecond time scale. For certain center frequencies of the chirp, the rate of inelastic trap-loss collisions induced by negatively chirped light is dramatically suppressed compared to the case of a positive chirp. We attribute this to a fundamental asymmetry in the system: an excited wave packet moves inward on the attractive molecular potential. For a positive chirp, the resonance condition moves outward in time, while for a negative chirp, it moves inward, in the same direction as the excited wave packet; this allows multiple interactions between the wave packet and the light, enabling the wave packet to be returned coherently to the ground state. Classical and quantum calculations support this interpretation.
AB - We demonstrate the ability to coherently control ultracold atomic Rb collisions using frequency-chirped light on the nanosecond time scale. For certain center frequencies of the chirp, the rate of inelastic trap-loss collisions induced by negatively chirped light is dramatically suppressed compared to the case of a positive chirp. We attribute this to a fundamental asymmetry in the system: an excited wave packet moves inward on the attractive molecular potential. For a positive chirp, the resonance condition moves outward in time, while for a negative chirp, it moves inward, in the same direction as the excited wave packet; this allows multiple interactions between the wave packet and the light, enabling the wave packet to be returned coherently to the ground state. Classical and quantum calculations support this interpretation.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34247863697&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevA.75.051401
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevA.75.051401
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AN - SCOPUS:34247863697
SN - 1050-2947
VL - 75
JO - Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
JF - Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
IS - 5
M1 - 051401
ER -