# Bloch-Like Quantum Multiple Reflections of Atoms

## I Introduction

During the last years the development of different and powerful laser cooling techniques  has lead to the experimental observation of several striking matter–wave phenomena for cold atoms. These phenomena resemble the usual effects observed in standard optics, and therefore they have been the subject of study of a fast–developing research field properly called atom optics. Some atom optics examples could be the diffraction of atoms , interferometers and lenses  for atoms, and very recently even the atom optics equivalent of a laser source, or atom–laser . Atomic mirrors have also been constructed using evanescent laser fields  or, more recently, with magnetic fields . Both mirrors, although based on different physical effects, share the same physical background, i.e. the atom feels a repulsive potential, and if its initial velocity is sufficiently small, it reaches a turning–point, being reflected. Note that after the turning–point the atomic density of probability follows an exponential decay, resembling the case of an electric field impinged onto a metallic surface. Therefore, these atomic mirrors can be considered the atom optics counterpart of metallic mirrors in light optics.

On the other hand, in the last few years, the behavior of a cold atom in periodic laser potentials (light lattices) has aroused great interest, in particular the resemblance of this physical situation and Solid–State physics . In this sense, Bragg scattering has been analysed in the context of atomic waves , and so has the use of such effect to construct atomic beam–splitters and interferometers . Bragg reflection is just a particular case of a more general situation, i.e. the so–called Photonic–Band–Gap–Structures (or PBGS) . In dielectric periodic structures some electromagnetic waves cannot propagate (basically because their corresponding energies are within an energetic gap produced by the periodic structure), and therefore are reflected. In previous papers  we have proposed a laser arrangement that acts as an Atomic–Band–Gap–Structure, in the sense that it resembles a PBGS but for atomic waves instead of electromagnetic ones. The atoms are reflected if their incoming kinetic energy lies within a gap produced by the laser periodicity. This effect produces a band–like momentum spectrum of the reflected atoms. We have shown that the atoms can be reflected not only by repulsive laser potentials, but also by attractive ones, allowing the atom optics equivalent of a multilayer dielectric mirror in light optics.

Among the different Solid–State–like phenomena recently reported, is of special interest the analysis of the behavior of cold atoms accelerated in a periodic potential. In this sense, the well–known Bloch Oscillations (BO), and their stationary counterpart, i.e. the Wannier–Stark (WS) ladders, have been experimentally observed in the context of atom optics .

In the present paper we demonstrate that an atomic beam dropped onto a laser potential as that of  can undergo under certain conditions multiple oscillations inside the laser region. We show that this effect can be physically explained using an image of energetically forbidden spatial regions, what we call spatial gaps. In particular the effect is produced due to a combination of partial Landau–Zener tunneling through sufficiently narrow spatial gaps, and a partial reflection on them. In this sense the laser arrangement behaves as an atomic–wave Fabry-Pérot interferometer . We have also analysed the similarities and differences between these oscillations and Bloch oscillations. Due to these similarities and differences we have called the effect Bloch–like oscillations. We show that the effect can be easily observed analysing either the reflected momentum spectrum (where Wannier–Stark–like resonances appear) or the temporal evolution of an atomic wavepacket. We prove that the multiple reflections appear also for attractive potentials, i.e. quantum multiple reflections are also possible.

The scheme of the paper is as follows. In Sec. II we briefly review the theoretical model already presented in . Sec. III is devoted to the development of the spatial gaps image. Sec. IV uses the spatial gaps image to explain the appearance of resonancies in the momentum spectrum of the reflected atoms, and compare the effect with a Fabry–Pérot interferometer. Sec. V discuss the similarities and differences between the presented oscillations and Bloch oscillations. In Sec. VI we present the temporal evolution of an atomic wavepacket for the case of a repulsive potential, whereas in Sec. VII the case of quantum multiple reflections is considered. We finalize in Sec. VIII with some conclusions.

## II Theoretical Model

In this section we briefly discuss the theoretical model we use in the paper. For a more detailed discussion see . Let us consider the same laser arrangement as that of , formed by the interference of two laser beams (Fig. 1) of the same intensity, polarisation, and with the same Gaussian profile, but with respective wave vectors: $`\stackrel{}{k}_1=k(\mathrm{cos}\varphi \stackrel{}{u}_x+\mathrm{sin}\varphi \stackrel{}{u}_z)`$ and $`\stackrel{}{k}_2=k(\mathrm{cos}\varphi \stackrel{}{u}_x\mathrm{sin}\varphi \stackrel{}{u}_z)`$. In the zone very close to $`x=0`$ the electric field, which is assumed to be linearly polarised in the $`y`$-direction, can be written in the form:

$`\stackrel{}{E}`$ $``$ $`E_0\stackrel{}{e}_ye^{\frac{(zz_c)^2\mathrm{cos}^2\varphi }{d^2}}\mathrm{cos}(k(zz_c)\mathrm{sin}\varphi )`$ (1)   
$`\times `$ $`\mathrm{cos}(kx\mathrm{cos}\varphi \omega t),`$ (2)   
where $`E_0/2`$ is the amplitude of each laser, $`z_c`$ is the center of the laser region, and $`d`$ is the halfwidth of the Gaussians. Let us assume that the laser frequency $`\omega `$ is quasi–resonant with some atomic transition between the ground state and an excited state (of energies $`\mathrm{}\omega _g`$ and $`\mathrm{}\omega _e`$ , respectively), and therefore we can treat the atom as a two-level system. In this paper, we assume a large internal detuning ($`\mathrm{\Delta }=\omega (\omega _e\omega _g)`$)), in such a way that the adiabatic approximation will be valid . In order to obtain a scalar Schrödinger equation to describe the atomic interaction with the laser, we follow the standard formalism developed in , except for the inclusion of the gravitational field. The scalar equation takes the form:

$$\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2M}\frac{d^2}{dz^2}\psi (z)=\left[\frac{q^2}{2M}V(z)\right]\psi (z),$$
(3)   
where

$$V(z)=Mgz\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Delta }\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{}\sqrt{\mathrm{\Delta }^2+4\mathrm{\Omega }(z)^2},$$
(4)   
with $`\mathrm{\Omega }(z)=\mathrm{\Omega }_0\mathrm{exp}\left[\mathrm{cos}^2\varphi (zz_c)^2/d^2\right]\mathrm{cos}(k(zz_c)\mathrm{sin}\varphi )`$. The sign in Eq. (4) depends on the detuning: the ”–” sign corresponds to $`\mathrm{\Delta }<0`$, and the ”+” corresponds to $`\mathrm{\Delta }>0`$. The coupling is given by $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0=\mu E_0/2\mathrm{}`$, which is the Rabi frequency associated with each laser, where $`\mu =\stackrel{}{e}_y\stackrel{}{\mu }`$, with $`\stackrel{}{\mu }`$ the transition dipole. $`q`$ is the $`z`$-momentum in $`z=0`$, sufficiently far away from $`z_c`$ to consider that the field in $`z=0`$ is negligible. To make the model as realistic as possible one could include the diffuse scattering resulting from spontaneous emission by adopting the lossy vector Schrödinger equation method of , i.e. $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Delta }+i\gamma /2`$, where $`\gamma `$ is the spontaneous emission frequency. However a large detuning is considered in the paper to avoid the effects of the spontaneous emission.

Using convenient units of length ($`k^1`$), momentum ($`\mathrm{}k`$) and frequency ($`\omega _\nu =\mathrm{}k^2/2M`$)), we can rewrite the Schrödinger equation in a dimensionless form:

$$\frac{d^2}{d\stackrel{~}{z}^2}\psi (\stackrel{~}{z})=\left\{\stackrel{~}{q}^2+\beta \stackrel{~}{z}+\frac{1}{2}\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}\pm \frac{1}{2}\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}^2+4\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}(\stackrel{~}{z})^2}\right\}\psi (\stackrel{~}{z}),$$
(5)   
in which the tilde denotes dimensionless units. In Eq. (5), we find the function $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}(z)=\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_0\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{(\stackrel{~}{z}\stackrel{~}{z}_c)^2\mathrm{cos}^2\varphi }{\stackrel{~}{d}^2}\right)\mathrm{cos}\left((\stackrel{~}{z}\stackrel{~}{z}_c)\mathrm{sin}\varphi \right)`$. $`\beta `$ is a gravitational parameter which introduces some differences depending on the mass of the atom. Since we shall assume that $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_0<<|\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}|^2`$, we can define a parameter $`\eta =\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Omega }}_0^2/\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}`$ which determines the strength of the laser potential. This can be easily shown by introducing a Taylor expansion on the right hand side of Eq. (5):

$$\frac{d^2}{d\stackrel{~}{z}^2}\psi (\stackrel{~}{z})=\left\{\stackrel{~}{q}^2+\beta \stackrel{~}{z}\stackrel{~}{V}(z)\right\}\psi (\stackrel{~}{z}),$$
(6)   
where

$$\stackrel{~}{V}(\stackrel{~}{z})=\eta \mathrm{exp}\left(2\mathrm{cos}^2\varphi (\stackrel{~}{z}\stackrel{~}{z}_c)^2/\stackrel{~}{d}^2\right)\mathrm{cos}^2((\stackrel{~}{z}\stackrel{~}{z}_c)\mathrm{sin}\varphi ).$$
(7)   
Note that the potential is formed by the product of a cosine squared function and a Gaussian envelope.

In all the figures throughout the paper we analyse the case of $`2s`$$`2p`$ <sup>7</sup>Li transition, whose parameters are $`\lambda =670.8`$ nm, $`\omega _\nu =3.96\times 10^5`$ s<sup>-1</sup>, $`\gamma =3.72\times 10^7`$ s<sup>-1</sup> and $`\beta =2.93\times 10^4`$. The position of the center of the laser region is at $`z_c=300\sqrt{2}\pi k^1=0.142`$ mm, and the halfwidth of the laser Gaussians is given by $`d=100\pi k^1=33.5`$ $`\mu `$m.

## III Spatial Gaps Image

In this section we present a model which allows us to understand the physics behind the results we will observe in the following sections. From Eq. (7) we observe that the potential $`\stackrel{~}{V}(\stackrel{~}{z})`$ is quasi-periodic, except for the Gaussian envelope, its periodicity given by $`\mathrm{\Delta }\stackrel{~}{z}=\pi /\mathrm{sin}\varphi `$. In order to better understand the effects of periodicity, let us remove gravitation and spontaneous emission, and for the time being let us forget the smooth Gaussian dependence. With these assumptions, the laser potential is a simple cosine squared potential, whose amplitude ($`\eta `$) can be positive (if $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}>0`$) or negative (if $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}<0`$), depending on which dressed state is reached. It is well known that a periodic potential leads to an energy structure of allowed and forbidden bands . Only the incoming momentum components $`q`$ whose associated kinetic energy lies within an allowed band can propagate inside the potential. If $`q`$ does not satisfy the band condition (i.e. if $`q^2/2M`$ lies in a gap), then the atoms with this incoming momentum cannot propagate inside the laser region and are therefore reflected, reflection bands being formed.

However, this image is excessively simple. In order to obtain physical insight into the numerical results, obtained by direct resolution of the Schrödinger Eq. (6), we must take into account the Gaussian laser envelope. The analysis is greatly simplified if, as we consider in this paper, the width of the Gaussian envelope is very large compared to the cosine squared periodicity. In particular, in the cases analysed below the width of the Gaussian envelope of the potential at $`1/e`$ is $`245`$ times the cosine squared period. If this condition is satisfied we can consider that within small intervals of the envelope we have a large number of cosine squared oscillations of approximately constant amplitude. We can therefore define an energy band structure for each of these intervals considered as the band structure calculated for an infinitely extended periodic potential with this constant amplitude. We can extend this reasoning and define a local band structure for each position $`z_0`$ inside the laser region, or in other words for each value of the Gaussian envelope ($`V_{env}(z_0)`$). This local band structure is calculated for a cosine squared potential of infinite number of periods with constant amplitude $`V_{env}(z_0)`$. Therefore each position within the laser region is linked with an energetic spectrum of allowed and forbidden energies, a spatially–dependent band–structure being formed. Fig. 2a shows such spatial band structure for the case of a repulsive potential of $`\eta =2.0`$. In particular, for certain momenta some spatial regions are energetically forbidden (white regions). We will call these regions Spatial Gaps. Fig. 2b shows the reflectivity for different incoming momentum components $`q`$, obtained by direct resolution of Eq. (6). The spatial gaps image allows an intuitive understanding of the physical processes behind these numerical results. If an atom with some momentum component finds during its travel inside the laser region a spatial gap, then the propagation through it is energetically forbidden, and consequently the atom is reflected. This point becomes clear by comparison between Figs. 2a and 2b. In  we also show that this model explains very well the effects of the spontaneous emission and gravitation. In this paper we will assume a sufficiently large detuning to neglect the spontaneous emission effects. The gravitational effects will be also negligible for the momentum components of interest in this paper and for the laser arrangement considered.

## IV Fabry–Pérot–like behavior

In Sec. III we have observed that an atom is reflected if it finds a spatial gap inside the laser region. Therefore the spatial gap acts as a potential barrier. Note that :

* If the spatial gap is sufficiently narrow then transmission via tunneling becomes possible. This tunneling produced from one allowed spatial region to another is no more than the well–known Landau–Zener tunneling between allowed energetic bands.
* The form of the spatial gap depends on the specific incoming momentum one considers, and hence this effective potential barrier has the interesting property that it changes its form and width depending on the incoming atomic momentum.

For certain interval of momenta (around $`\stackrel{~}{q}=2`$ in Fig. 2b), several peaks in the momentum spectrum of reflection can be observed. These peaks are depicted in detail in Fig. 3b. The physical process behind these peaks can be well understood by using the spatial gaps image of Sec. III. In Fig. 3a we present in detail the region in Fig. 2a corresponding with the region depicted in Fig. 3b. As we observe in this figure the spatial gap, i.e. the effective potential barrier, is very narrow in this region. This fact allows the possibility of tunneling of the wavefunction through the spatial gap (from point $`A`$ to point $`B`$), and therefore a partial reflection is produced. Since the envelope is symmetric, the transmitted part reaches again an spatial gap (point $`C`$), from where the atoms can be partially transmitted again by tunneling until point $`D`$, or can be reflected back to point $`B`$, from where they can be partially reflected and so on. This process leads to multiple oscillations between points $`B`$ and $`C`$, i.e. the region from $`B`$ to $`C`$ acts as Fabry–Pérot cavity , where $`B`$ and $`C`$ act as lossy mirrors. As we indicated previously, since the form of the effective barrier depends on the momentum, the length of the ”cavity” depends also on the momentum. Following the optical analogy, this is the same case we would have if the length of a Fabry–Pérot cavity was different depending on the wavelength of the light. The peaks we find in the momentum spectrum of the reflection can therefore be explained as resonances of this special Fabry–Pérot cavity.

## V Bloch Oscillations and Wannier–Stark Ladders

Other way to understand these resonances in the reflection spectrum is provided by a well–known phenomenum of Solid–State Physics, namely the Wannier–Stark (WS) Ladders . This effect is simply a stationary counterpart (i.e. in the frequency domain) of another effect in the time domain called Bloch Oscillations (BO). Let us briefly review this concept. BO appear when particles within a periodic potential are affected by a constant acceleration. We must point out that although this effect was initially observed in Solid–State context , several recent experiments  have reported the same phenomena in Atom Optics. BO can be easily understood for weak potentials : due to the acceleration, the momentum of the particles increases linearly according to Newton’s law until it reaches a critical value satisfying the Bragg condition, then the atomic wave is reflected and its momentum is reversed. The atom travels again under Newton’s law until it reaches other Bragg condition and then it is reflected again. Then, the BO can be understood as multiple reflections between two Bragg reflections. For larger potentials the BO can be understood using the spatial gaps image (as pointed out previously, Bragg reflection is a particular case of the band–gap structures for weak potentials). Let us consider an infinitely–extended periodic potential of constant amplitude affected by an external force. Let us suppose that this force is linear in the spatial coordinate. Hence the band structure varies in the space leading to tilted allowed and forbidden spatial regions (Fig. 4a). Let us suppose a particle inside an allowed region. This particle moves until it reaches a forbidden region (point $`A`$), from where it is reflected. Then it travels again within the allowed region until it finds another forbidden region (point $`B`$), from where it is reflected and so on, leading to multiple oscillations. Note that in absence of external force, no tilting is present (Fig. 4b) and hence there are not multiple oscillations.

We observe that the oscillations reported in Sec. IV are certainly similar to the BO. In particular, both are due to the same reason, i.e. multiple reflections between forbidden regions. However several important differences can be pointed out:

* The physical process which produces the ”cavity” is basically different: in the BO is the tilting of the bands due to an external force, while in our case is the symmetry of the Gaussian envelope.
* Whereas in the BO the reflection is produced between two different spatial gaps, in the oscillations reported here both sides of the ”cavity” are produced by the same spatial gap, which is curved due to the Gaussian shape of the laser envelope.
* In the BO the atom is initially inside the allowed region between two forbidden ones. In our case the atom enters from outside, and therefore needs to tunnel a narrow spatial gap to enter into the internal allowed region where it oscillates.

Due to these similitudes and differences, we call the resonances in the reflection spectrum Wannier–Stark–like resonances.

## VI Time Domain. Bloch–Like oscillations

We have therefore interpreted the resonances appearing in Fig. 3b as Wannier–Stark–like resonances. As for standard WS–ladders, the Wannier–Stark–like resonances are linked in the time domain with what we call Bloch–like oscillations. In order to observe this effect we have numerically calculated the evolution of an atomic wavepacket through the laser arrangement. In order to achieve this we have solved the Schrödinger Eq. (6) evaluating the wavefuction inside and outside the laser region for different incoming momentum components $`q`$. Note that at this point turns very important the possibility to calculate the wavefunction inside the laser region, which cannot be calculated by using a transfer–matrix method as that of . We have employed a finite–differencing numerical method previously presented in , which allows us to know the wavefunction also inside the laser region. Once we have calculated the spatial behavior of the wavefunction for the different momentum components $`\psi (q,z)`$, we obtain the temporal evolution of an atomic wavepacket by applying a one–dimensional Fourier transform:

$$\varphi (z,t)=e^{i\frac{\mathrm{}q^2t}{2M}}\psi (q,z)f_0(q)𝑑q,$$
(8)   
where $`f_0(q)`$ is an initial Gaussian momentum distribution of the form:

$$f_0(q)=e^{a^2(qq_0)^2/2}e^{iqz_0},$$
(9)   
where $`q_0`$ is the central momentum component of the atomic wavepacket.

Fig. 5 shows the evolution of an atomic wavepacket with $`\stackrel{~}{a}=35\pi `$, $`\stackrel{~}{q}_0=1.9`$ through a laser arrangement as that of Fig. 3. The initial position of the centre of the atomic wavepacket is $`\stackrel{~}{z}_0=35\pi `$. Fig. 5a shows the snapshot at $`t=0`$, whereas Figs. 5b, c and d show respectively the snapshots at $`t=6T`$, $`10T`$ and $`14T`$, with $`T=18\pi \omega _\nu ^1`$. In all the figures the Gaussian form of the laser envelope is represented in dashed lines for comparative purposes. In Fig. 5b a partial reflection and tunneling is clearly produced. The reflected wavepacket travels to the left dissapearing, while the transmitted wavepacket travels within the laser region. In Fig. 5c the previously transmitted wavepacket is again splitted into two parts: a transmitted part which travels to the right dissapearing, and a reflected part which travels back in the laser region. Again in Fig. 5d a new splitting is produced. The observation of successive multiple reflections becomes more difficult due to the wavepacket spreading and due to the losses in the different partial transmissions.

## VII Quantum Multiple Reflections

We show in this section that the previously reported multiple oscillations can also be observed for the case of attractive laser potential, i.e. it is possible to achieve multiple reflections in a laser potential that classically allows none. Fig. 6 shows a detail of the reflection spectrum for the case of an attractive potential with $`\eta =5.0`$. We clearly observe the appearance of several resonances as those of Fig. 3. These distortions are no more than the previously analysed WS–like resonances. As for the repulsive case, a narrow spatial gap appears leading to the already analysed effect of partial Landau–Zener tunneling, and therefore to multiple reflections, whose effect in the momentum domain is the appearance of the WS–like resonances. As in the previous case, Bloch–like oscillations can be observed if we monitorize the evolution of an atomic wavepacket through the laser region. Fig. 7 shows this evolution for the case of the same atomic wavepacket of Fig. 5, but now the laser is that of Fig. 6. The first snapshot (Fig. 7a) is at $`t=0`$, whereas Figs. 7b, c, d are respectively obtained at $`t=5T`$, $`t=7T`$, $`t=9T`$, with $`T=18\pi \omega _\nu ^1`$, where we observe different wavepacket splittings due to partial tunneling and reflection. As in the repulsive case multiple oscillations are possible, i.e. quantum multiple reflections also appear.

## VIII Conclusions

In this paper we have analysed the reflection of an atomic beam dropped onto a laser with a periodic profile modulated by a Gaussian envelope, formed in the interference region of two Gaussian laser beams. We have numerically calculated the atomic reflection on such arrangement by direct resolution of the corresponding Schrödinger equation, and explained the band–like character of the reflection momentum spectrum using a band–theory model of energetically forbidden spatial regions, or spatial gaps. We have probed that due to a partial Landau–Zener tunneling through sufficiently narrow spatial gaps, and also due to the Gaussian symmetry of the laser potential, an atom can undergo multiple reflections inside the laser region, in a process which resembles a Fabry–Pérot interferometer but for atomic–waves. These multiple oscillations have been compared with the well-known Bloch Oscillations of Solid–State physics, analysing the similarities and differences between both oscillations. In particular although both processes are due to multiple reflections between energetically forbidden spatial regions, in the effect presented in this paper the spatial gap is curved due to the Gaussian symmetry and the atom oscillates between two barriers which are actually part of the same spatial gap, contrary to the Bloch Oscillations in which the atom oscillates between two different spatial gaps. Also, the reported multiple oscillations are not due to an external force as Bloch Oscillations but due to the Gaussian form of the envelope. Due to these similarities and differences we have called these oscillations Bloch–like oscillations. We have analysed the effect both in the frequency domain (where Wannier–Stark–like resonances appear) and in the time–domain (observing the Bloch–like oscillations). We have proved that the effect appears not only for repulsive laser potentials, but also for attractive ones, i.e. quantum multiple reflections are also possible.

Acknowledgments. Partial support from the Spanish Dirección General de Investigación Científica y técnica (Grant No. PB95–0955) and from the Junta de Castilla y León (Grant No. SA 16/98) is acknowledged.