We have devloped a new probing technique to study quantum gases which is based on Raman spectroscopy. In a Raman process, an atom absorbs and emits photons from two laser beams whose frequency, and orientation can be adjusted. In a Raman process, there is a momentum transfer between the photons and the atom, and it depends on the angle between the Raman beams. Since the process has to conserve energy and momentum, it means only atoms with specific energies and momenta can undergo this process, for a given set of Raman beams parameters. By scanning these parameters and recording the number of atoms transferred in the Raman process, it is possible to learn a great deal about the energy-momentum distribution of the atoms. This, in turn, tells us a lot about the many-body quantum phase of the gas.
Related publications:
- Ness, G., Shkedrov, C., Florshaim, Y., Sagi, Y., “Observation of a smooth polaron-molecule transition in a degenerate Fermi gas”, arXiv:2001.10450 (2020).
- Shkedrov, C., Ness, G., Florshaim, Y., Sagi., Y. In Situ Momentum Distribution Measurement of a Quantum Degenerate Fermi Gas using Raman Spectroscopy, Phys. Rev. A. 101, 013609 (2020).