Abstract

The development of a bright, monochromatic atomic beam with small mean velocity has broad applications. Two applications for which this technology is particularly relevant are atomic-beam deflection in a quantum field and quantum chaos. Recent theoretical work has shown that atomic- beam deflection can be a sensitive measure of photon statistics.¹ Following this work we have carried out a theoretical study of deflection for a wide range of cavity-field and atomic-beam parameters that should be feasible experimentally. We find that for a cavity length of 1 mm and an atomic beam velocity <10 m/s there should be a significant probability of deflection for intracavity photon states with a mean photon number approaching unity. Ideally, this experiment should be performed by sending only one atom at a time through the cavity. This requires the use of a pulsed beam with a fast repetition rate. Atomic- beam deflection in a modulated standing wave has been shown theoretically to be a realization of tire kicked rotor, and quantum localization of this classically chaotic system is predicted.² An analysis of the relevant parameters indicates that quantum localization can be observed for atoms with velocities of 5 m/s.

© 1994 Optical Society of America