Spontaneous spatial organisation in cold atomic gases can also occur due to mutual coupling of light and the magnetic moments of the atoms. The interaction is highly sensitive to the polarisation of the optical field and the presence of an external magnetic field, resulting in spontaneous spatial organisation of the optical intensity and polarisation, together with the magnetic moments of the atoms. In collaboration with EQOP and the Cold Atom Group at INPHYNI, Nice, spontaneous spatial organization cold atomic cloud in the plane transverse to the pump axis was demonstrated recently [1,2].
Intensity distribution of different polarisation components due to magnetic self-ordering [2].
[1] G. Labeyrie, I. Kresic, G. R. M. Robb, G.-L. Oppo, R. Kaiser, and T. Ackemann, “Magnetic phase diagram of light-mediated spin structuring in cold atoms”, Optica 5, 1322 (2018).
[2] I. Kresic, G. Labeyrie, G. R. M. Robb, G.-L. Oppo, P. M. Gomes, P. Griffin, R. Kaiser, and T. Ackemann “Spontaneous light-mediated magnetism in cold atoms”, Commun. Phys. 1, 33 (2018).
Funder: EU H2020 (ColOpt)