Compensation of gravity on cold atoms by a linear optical potential

Abstract

The authors demonstrate a simple optical technique to cancel gravity on a cold atom gas. Gravity often causes undesirable effects on cold atom experiments. While recent experiments in space enable liberation from gravity, the paper proposes to use a light field of a linear intensity profile produced by optical painting technique (rapid scanning of the beam position) to compensate for gravity on ultracold rubidium atoms in a standard laboratory. This optical levitation opens the possibilities for cold atom research in microgravity without any special setup and allows for precise measurements on the ground.