Coherent Splitting of Bose-Einstein Condensed Atoms with Optically Induced Bragg Diffraction

Abstract

We have observed Bragg diffraction of a Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium atoms by a moving, periodic, optical potential. The coherent process of Bragg diffraction produced a splitting of the condensate with unidirectional momentum transfer. Using the momentum selectivity of the Bragg process, we separated a condensate component with a momentum width narrower than that of the original condensate. By repeatedly pulsing the optical potential while the atoms were trapped, we observed the trajectory of the split atomic wave packets in the confining magnetic potential.