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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation
Published on: February 4, 2017
Observation of transverse interference fringes on an atom laser beam
R G Dall1, L J Byron, A G Truscott
1ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum-Atom Optics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.
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.
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