Light scattering from a randomly occupied optical lattice. I. Born approximation.
A theoretical study of the scattering of light from a randomly occupied optical lattice of resonant atoms is presented to reveal both the characteristics of the lattice and the properties of light scattered from the lattice. In the first-order Born approximation we discuss here, a number of interesting effects are established, including sideband Stokes scattering, a finite angular coherence of the scattered light, and spectral line narrowing. Specifically, the degree of angular coherence of the scattered light is calculated, and it is shown that such coherence is strongly influenced by the regularity and size of the underlying lattice structure. The previously observed phenomenon of the sideband spectral line narrowing is also explained in terms of the localization of atoms in the trapping potential wells. Important information about the lattice can thus be recovered by analyzing the scattered light in the Born approximation.
Guo
Wei
W
Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
Prasad
Sudhakar
S