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Dynamic Manipulation of Bose-Einstein Condensates With a Spatial Light Modulator

V. Boyer·R. M. Godun·G. Smirne·D. Cassettari·C. M. Chandrashekar·A. B. Deb·Z. J. Laczik·C. J. Foot
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Abstract

We manipulate a Bose-Einstein condensate using the optical trap created by the diffraction of a laser beam on a fast ferro-electric liquid crystal spatial light modulator. The modulator acts as a phase grating which can generate arbitrary diffraction patterns and be rapidly reconfigured at rates up to 1 kHz to create smooth, time-varying optical potentials. The flexibility of the device is demonstrated with our experimental results for splitting a Bose-Einstein condensate and independently transporting the separate parts of the atomic cloud.

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V. Boyer, R. M. Godun, G. Smirne, D. Cassettari, C. M. Chandrashekar, A. B. Deb, Z. J. Laczik, C. J. Foot. 2005-12-12. Dynamic Manipulation of Bose-Einstein Condensates With a Spatial Light Modulator. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.73.031402

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