title: Modulated optical lattice as an atomic fabry-perot interferometer
abstract: We propose to engineer the atomic band structure in optical lattices in order to design a Fabry-Perot interferometer with large mode spacing and strong nonlinear coupling to be employed in atom optics. The use of an optical lattice allows for a significant reduction of the atomic effective mass, while the slow modulation of its parameters spatially confines the matter waves on a length scale of a few dozen optical wavelengths. As a consequence, the mode spacing in such a cavity would be as high as one-tenth of the recoil energy, allowing for a very efficient filter action, while the nonlinear coupling due to interatomic interactions could lead to bistability and limiting effects in the transmission of the atomic beam.
authors.affiliation: Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56126 Pisa, Italy and INFM, Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56126 Pisa, Italy and Laboratoire Kastler-Brossel, Ecole Normale Superieure, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex.
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Carusotto
authors.lastname: La Rocca GC