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N. Piovella

Publications and source records attributed to N. Piovella.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Selfsynchronization and dissipation-induced threshold in collective atomic recoil lasing

Networks of globally coupled oscillators exhibit phase transitions from incoherent to coherent states. Atoms interacting with the counterpropagating modes of a unidirectionally pumped high-finesse ring cavity form such a globally coupled network. The coupling mechanism is provided by collective atomic recoil lasing (CARL), i.e. cooperative Bragg scattering of laser light at an atomic density grating, which is self-induced by the laser light. Under the rule of an additional friction force, the atomic ensemble is expected to undergo a phase transition to a state of synchronized atomic motion. We present the experimental investigation of this phase transition by studying the threshold behavior of the CARL process.

quant-ph↗

Collective Atomic Recoil Lasing Including Friction and Diffusion Effects

We extend the Collective Atomic Recoil Lasing (CARL) model including the effects of friction and diffusion forces acting on the atoms due to the presence of optical molasses fields. The results from this model are consistent with those from a recent experiment by Kruse et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 183601 (2003)]. In particular, we obtain a threshold condition above which collective backscattering occurs. Using a nonlinear analysis we show that the backscattered field and the bunching evolve to a steady-state, in contrast to the non-stationary behaviour of the standard CARL model. For a proper choice of the parameters, this steady-state can be superfluorescent.

quant-ph↗

Superradiant light scattering from a moving Bose-Einstein condensate

We investigate the interaction of a moving BEC with a far detuned laser beam. Superradiant Rayleigh scattering arises from the spontaneous formation of a matter-wave grating due to the interference of two wavepackets with different momenta. The system is described by the CARL-BEC model which is a generalization of the Gross-Pitaevskii model to include the self-consistent evolution of the scattered field. The experiment gives evidence of a damping of the matter-wave grating which depends on the initial velocity of the condensate. We describe this damping in terms of a phase-diffusion decoherence process, in good agreement with the experimental results.

cond-mat.soft↗

Quantum effects in the collective light scattering by coherent atomic recoil in a Bose-Einstein condensate

We extend the semiclassical model of the collective atomic recoil laser (CARL) to include the quantum mechanical description of the center-of-mass motion of the atoms in a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). We show that when the average atomic momentum is less than the recoil momentum $\hbar\vec q$, the CARL equations reduce to the Maxwell-Bloch equations for two momentum levels. In the conservative regime (no radiation losses), the quantum model depends on a single collective parameter, $ρ$, that can be interpreted as the average number of photons scattered per atom in the classical limit. When $ρ\gg 1$, the semiclassical CARL regime is recovered, with many momentum levels populated at saturation. On the contrary, when $ρ\le 1$, the average momentum oscillates between zero and $\hbar\vec q$, and a periodic train of $2π$ hyperbolic secant pulses is emitted. In the dissipative regime (large radiation losses) and in a suitable quantum limit, a sequential superfluorescence scattering occurs, in which after each process atoms emit a $π$ hyperbolic secant pulse and populate a lower momentum state. These results describe the regular arrangement of the momentum pattern observed in recent experiments of superradiant Rayleigh scattering from a BEC.

cond-mat↗

The FaBrE Project at Trieste

A program to design a high brilliance electron source suitable for a short wavelength Linac-based FEL is presented. The goal of the project is to develop a multi-cell integrated photoinjector capable of delivering 1 nC bunches with emittance below 1 mm mrad. This will be the first step toward a possible development of a IV generation light source test facility based on the existing Trieste Linac. For this purpose a common program between Sincrotrone Trieste and INFN-Milano has been undertaken. Here a brief description of the program and the first results of the RF Gun electromagnetic structure with the beam dynamics on the ELETTRA Linac are presented.

physics.acc-ph↗

Superradiant light scattering and grating formation in cold atomic vapours

A semi-classical theory of coherent light scattering from an elongated sample of cold atoms exposed to an off-resonant laser beam is presented. The model, which is a direct extension of that of the collective atomic recoil laser (CARL), describes the emission of two superradiant pulses along the sample's major axis simultaneous with the formation of a bidimensional atomic grating inside the sample. It provides a simple physical picture of the recent observation of collective light scattering from a Bose-Einstein condensate [S. Inouye et al., Science N.285, p. 571 (1999)]. In addition, the model provides an analytical description of the temporal evolution of the scattered light intensity which shows good quantitative agreement with the experimental results of Inouye et al.

cond-mat↗

Multi-cell RF Injectors Driven by Thermoionic Cathodes

We present the anticipated performances of a multi-cell RF injector operated either with a thermoionic cathode or with a gated photo-cathode. By means of a magnetic compression and a Coherent Spontaneous Emission seeded FEL radiating at 100 to 200 mm, the system produces a beam fully bunched with a 200 A peak current at 2 mm.mrad rms emittance. The electron bunch is a few FEL buckets long and phase-locked to the RF so to make this device an ideal injector for second generation plasma acceleration experiments.

physics.acc-ph↗