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Gilbert Grynberg

Publications and source records attributed to Gilbert Grynberg.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Synchronization of Hamiltonian motion and dissipative effects in optical lattices: Evidence for a stochastic resonance

We theoretically study the influence of the noise strength on the excitation of the Brillouin propagation modes in a dissipative optical lattice. We show that the excitation has a resonant behavior for a specific amount of noise corresponding to the precise synchronization of the Hamiltonian motion on the optical potential surfaces and the dissipative effects associated with optical pumping in the lattice. This corresponds to the phenomenon of stochastic resonance. Our results are obtained by numerical simulations and correspond to the analysis of microscopic quantities (atomic spatial distributions) as well as macroscopic quantities (enhancement of spatial diffusion and pump-probe spectra). We also present a simple analytical model in excellent agreement with the simulations.

quant-ph

Phase-control of directed diffusion in a symmetric optical lattice

We demonstrate the phenomenon of directed diffusion in a symmetric periodic potential. This has been realized with cold atoms in a one-dimensional dissipative optical lattice. The stochastic process of optical pumping leads to a diffusive dynamics of the atoms through the periodic structure, while a zero-mean force which breaks the temporal symmetry of the system is applied by phase-modulating one of the lattice beams. The atoms are set into directed motion as a result of the breaking of the temporal symmetry of the system.

quant-ph

Damping rates of the atomic velocity in Sisyphus cooling

We present a theoretical and experimental study of the damping process of the atomic velocity in Sisyphus cooling. The relaxation rates of the atomic kinetic temperature are determined for a 3D lin$\perp$lin optical lattice. We find that the damping rates of the atomic temperature depend linearly on the optical pumping rate, for a given depth of the potential wells. This is at variance with the behavior of the friction coefficient as calculated from the spatial diffusion coefficients within a model of Brownian motion. The origin of this different behavior is identified by distinguishing the role of the trapped and traveling atoms.

quant-ph

Rayleigh Scattering and Atomic Dynamics in Dissipative Optical Lattices

We investigate Rayleigh scattering in dissipative optical lattices. In particular, following recent proposals (S. Guibal {\it et al}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 78}, 4709 (1997); C. Jurczak {\it et al}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 77}, 1727 (1996)), we study whether the Rayleigh resonance originates from the diffraction on a density grating, and is therefore a probe of transport of atoms in optical lattices. It turns out that this is not the case: the Rayleigh line is instead a measure of the cooling rate, while spatial diffusion contributes to the scattering spectrum with a much broader resonance.

quant-ph

Dark propagation modes in optical lattices

We examine the stimulated light scattering onto the propagation modes of a dissipative optical lattice. We show that two different pump-probe configurations may lead to the excitation, via different mechanisms, of the same mode. We found that in one configuration the scattering on the propagation mode results in a resonance in the probe transmission spectrum while in the other configuration no modification of the scattering spectrum occurs, i.e. the mode is dark. A theoretical explanation of this behaviour is provided.

quant-ph

Stochastic resonance in periodic potentials: realization in a dissipative optical lattice

We have observed the phenomenon of stochastic resonance on the Brillouin propagation modes of a dissipative optical lattice. Such a mode has been excited by applying a moving potential modulation with phase velocity equal to the velocity of the mode. Its amplitude has been characterized by the center-of-mass (CM) velocity of the atomic cloud. At Brillouin resonance, we studied the CM-velocity as a function of the optical pumping rate at a given depth of the potential wells. We have observed a resonant dependence of the CM velocity on the optical pumping rate, corresponding to the noise strength. This corresponds to the experimental observation of stochastic resonance in a periodic potential in the low-damping regime.

quant-ph

Spatial diffusion in a periodic optical lattice: revisiting the Sisyphus effect

We numerically study the spatial diffusion of an atomic cloud experiencing Sisyphus cooling in a three-dimensional lin$\bot$lin optical lattice in a broad range of lattice parameters. In particular, we investigate the dependence on the size of the lattice sites which changes with the angle between the laser beams. We show that the steady-state temperature is largely independent of the lattice angle, but that the spatial diffusion changes significantly. It is shown that the numerical results fulfil the Einstein relations of Brownian motion in the jumping regime as well as in the oscillating regime. We finally derive an effective Brownian motion model from first principles which gives good agreement with the simulations.

physics.atom-ph

Atom cooling and trapping by disorder

We demonstrate the possibility of three-dimensional cooling of neutral atoms by illuminating them with two counterpropagating laser beams of mutually orthogonal linear polarization, where one of the lasers is a speckle field, i.e. a highly disordered but stationary coherent light field. This configuration gives rise to atom cooling in the transverse plane via a Sisyphus cooling mechanism similar to the one known in standard two-dimensional optical lattices formed by several plane laser waves. However, striking differences occur in the spatial diffusion coefficients as well as in local properties of the trapped atoms.

physics.atom-ph