title: Purely optical dark lattice.
abstract: We study a new type of optical lattice in which the localized atoms experience a much reduced optical pumping and fluorescence rate. An optical standing wave is tuned to the blue of the F = 2 ? F = 2 transition of the (87)Rb D(2) line and induces periodic optical potentials by coupling the F = 2 ground state to both the F = 2 and F = 3 excited states. A Sisyphus mechanism efficiently cools the atoms into the lattice sites. We adiabatically release the atoms from the optical lattice and measure their momentum distribution with a resolution of one third of a single photon recoil. This allows us to determine the population of the two lowest energy bands in the optical lattice (44% and 20%).
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Esslinger
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sander
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hemmerich
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Hänsch
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ritsch
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weidemüller