2006/10/25 by S. Slama, Sebastian Slama, Simone Bux +10
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Geophysics and Sensor Technology #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.quant-ph/0610213
4 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2006/10/25 · openalex publication_date 2006/10/25 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Collective interaction of light with an atomic gas can give rise to superradiant instabilities. We experimentally study the sudden build-up of a reverse light field in a laser-driven high-finesse ring cavity filled with ultracold thermal or condensed atoms. While superradiant Rayleigh scattering from atomic clouds is normally only observed at very low temperatures (i.e. well below 1 μK), the presence of the ring cavity enhances cooperativity and allows for superradiance with thermal clouds as hot as several 10 μK. A characterization of the superradiance at various temperatures and cooperativity parameters allows us to link it to the collective atomic recoil laser.