Observation of atom pairs in spontaneous four-wave mixing of two colliding Bose-Einstein condensates |
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Authors: | Perrin A Chang H Krachmalnicoff V Schellekens M Boiron D Aspect A Westbrook C I |
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Institution: | Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique, CNRS, Univ Paris-Sud, Campus Polytechnique, RD128, 91127 Palaiseau cedex, France. |
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Abstract: | We study atom scattering from two colliding Bose-Einstein condensates using a position sensitive, time resolved, single atom detector. In analogy to quantum optics, the process can also be thought of as spontaneous, degenerate four-wave mixing of de Broglie waves. We find a clear correlation between atoms with opposite momenta, demonstrating pair production in the scattering process. We also observe a Hanbury Brown-Twiss correlation for collinear momenta, which permits an independent measurement of the size of the pair production source and thus the size of the spatial mode. The back-to-back pairs occupy very nearly two oppositely directed spatial modes, a promising feature for future quantum optics experiments. |
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