ATOM LASERS

摘要

An atom laser has yet to be constructed in the laboratory, although many groups have this as a long term goal. Obtaining high first order coherence, that is a narrow linewidth, will be difficult. In particular much more work must be done on output coupling mechanisms. A potentially more serious problem is atom-atom interaction, that is collisions, which are likely to place severe limits on atom laser design.rnHowever the potential rewards for constructing an atom laser are great. Besides being the ideal source for many existing atom optics devices they may stimulate entirely new applications.