Abstract

Optical lattices are regular arrays of light- shift potentials, formed by interfering laser beams, in which atoms can be cooled and napped. Bragg scattering of light from optical lattices¹ is exponentially sensitive to the spread of the atomic distribution about the equilibrium positions for trapping according to the Debye-Waller factor. The intensity of the Bragg-scattered beam varies as exp( − Δ,χ²), where K is the change in the photon wave vector upon scattering and Δx² is the mean square spread of atoms about equilibrium. This mean square spread also provides an approximate measure of the kinetic energy of the atoms trapped in the microscopic potential wells, according to the equipartition theorem.

© 1997 Optical Society of America