Superradiant rayleigh scattering from a bose-einstein condensate.

Inouye, S; Chikkatur, AP; Stamper-Kurn, DM; Stenger, J; Pritchard, DE; Ketterle, W · Science · 1999

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Rayleigh scattering off a Bose-Einstein condensate was studied. Exposing an elongated condensate to a single off-resonant laser beam resulted in the observation of highly directional scattering of light and atoms. This collective light scattering is caused by the coherent center-of-mass motion of the atoms in the condensate. A directional beam of recoiling atoms was built up by matter wave amplification.