Index OMC_final - Harvard University

ULTRACOLD ATOMS COUPLED TO A MICROMECHANICAL MEMBRANE
David Hunger, 1,2 Stephan Camerer, 1,2 Maria Korppi, 1,2,3
Andreas J ̈ockel, 1,2,3 Theodor W. H ̈ansch, 1,2 and Philipp Treutlein 1,2,3
1Max-Planck-Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching, Germany
2Faculty of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany
3Department of Physics, University of Basel, Switzerland
E-mail: philipp.treutlein@unibas.ch
We report the observation of bi-directional coupling between a mechanical oscillator and the
center-of-mass motion of ultracold atoms. Our experiment realizes a recently proposed system [1]
in which an optical lattice mediates a long-distance coupling between laser-cooled atoms and a
micromechanical membrane. We detect both the effect of the vibrating membrane onto the
atoms as well as the effect of the atoms onto the membrane and find reasonable agreement with a
simple theoretical model. Coupling ultracold atoms to mechanical oscillators opens the exciting
perspective of using the tools of atomic physics to read out, cool, and coherently manipulate the
oscillators’ state [2, 3, 4].
Figure 1: Schematic of our setup: A laser field impinging from the right is partially reflected off a dielectric
membrane and forms a standing wave optical potential for an atomic ensemble. Vibrations of the
membrane’s fundamental mode will shift the standing wave field, shaking atoms in the optical lattice.
Conversely, oscillations of the atomic cloud (center of mass motion) will change the intensity of left/right
propagating field components, thus shaking the membrane via changing the radiation pressure on it.
References:
[1] K. Hammerer, K. Stannigel, C. Genes, P. Zoller, P. Treutlein, S. Camerer, D. Hunger, and T. W. H ̈ansch, Phys.
Rev. A 82 021803 (R) (2010).
[2] D. Hunger, S. Camerer, T. W. H ̈ansch, D. K ̈onig, J. P. Kotthaus, J. Reichel, and P. Treutlein, Phys. Rev. Lett.
104, 143002 (2010).
[3] P. Treutlein, D. Hunger, S. Camerer, J. Reichel, T. W. H ̈ansch, and P. Treutlein, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 140403
(2007).
[4] K. Hammerer, M. Wallquist, C. Genes, M. Ludwig, F. Marquardt, P. Treutlein, P. Zoller, J. Ye, and H. J. Kimble,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 063005 (2009). [4] V. M. Acosta, E. Bauch, A. Jarmola, L. J. Zipp,
M. P. Ledbetter, and D. Budker, Broadband magnetometry by infrared-absorption detection of diamond NV centers
[5] M.P. Ledbetter, C.W. Crawford, A. Pines, D.E. Wemmer, S. Knappe, J. Kitching, and D. Budker, Optical
detection of NMR J-spectra at zero magnetic field, Journal of Magnetic Resonance 199 (2009) 25 29
[6] L.-S. Bouchard, V. M. Acosta, E. Bauch, and D. Budker, Detection of the Meissner Effect with a Diamond
Magnetometer
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