Observation of transverse interference fringes on an atom laser beam

R. G. Dall*, L. J. Byron, A. G. Truscott, G. R. Dennis, M. T. Johnsson, M. Jeppesen, J. J. Hope

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Using the unique detection properties offered by metastable helium atoms we have produced high resolution images of the transverse spatial profiles of an atom laser beam. We observe fringes on the beam, resulting from quantum mechanical interference between atoms that start from rest at different transverse locations within the outcoupling surface and end up at a later time with different velocities at the same transverse position. Numerical simulations in the low output-coupling limit give good quantitative agreement with our experimental data.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)17673-17680
Number of pages8
JournalOptics Express
Volume15
Issue number26
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 24 Dec 2007
Externally publishedYes

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