Issue |
EPL
Volume 91, Number 3, August 2010
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 33001 | |
Number of page(s) | 5 | |
Section | Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/91/33001 | |
Published online | 27 August 2010 |
A phonon laser in ultra-cold matter
1
IPFN and CFIF, Instituto Superior Técnico - 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal, EU
2
Department of Physics, Umea University - SE-901 87 Umea, Sweden, EU
Received:
30
March
2010
Accepted:
30
July
2010
We show the possible excitation of a phonon laser instability in an ultra-cold atomic gas confined in a magneto-optical trap. Such an effect results from a negative Landau damping of the collective density perturbations in the gas, leading to the coherent emission of phonons. This laser instability can be driven by a blue-detuned laser superimposed to the usual red-detuning laser beams which usually provide the cooling mechanism. Threshold conditions, instability growth rates and saturation levels are derived. This work generalizes, on theoretical grounds, the recent results obtained with a single-ion phonon laser, to an ultra-cold atomic gas, where real phonons can be excited. Future phonon lasers could thus adequately be called phasers.
PACS: 32.80.Qk – Coherent control of atomic interactions with photons / 37.10.De – Atom cooling methods / 42.55.-f – Lasers
© EPLA, 2010
Current usage metrics show cumulative count of Article Views (full-text article views including HTML views, PDF and ePub downloads, according to the available data) and Abstracts Views on Vision4Press platform.
Data correspond to usage on the plateform after 2015. The current usage metrics is available 48-96 hours after online publication and is updated daily on week days.
Initial download of the metrics may take a while.