Feature

Pushing Atoms with Darkness: Adiabatic Momentum Transfer

J. Lawall, M. Prentiss, L. S. Goldner, C. Gerz, R. J. C. Spreeuw, S. L. Rolston, C. I. West-brook, W. D. Phillip, P. Marte and P. Zoller

Two groups, one at Harvard University and one at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, recently demonstrated the transfer of linear momentum from a laser beam to an atom, with the laser frequency tuned to the atomic resonance, but without the atom ever being in the optically excited state.