14 DAY TRIAL // An atom laser is similar to an optical one and is in fact a coherent beam of atoms that behaves like a wave. Though a relatively recent discovery, still in its 'infancy', this technology could soon have many practical applications, like in extremely precise measurements.
"When doing precise measurements of any kind, it is important to be able to count something, such as photons coming by at any given time," says Mattias Johnsson, a scientist at The Australian National University in Canberra, who, together with Simon Haine, theorized a new technique for improving the accuracy of the measurements.
"But there is an uncertainty, since the number passing fluctuates. When the fluctuations are larger than the effect you are looking for, precise measurements are more difficult. For example, if the fluctuations in your signal due to underlying quantum uncertainty is 50 photons per second, and the effect you're looking for change the number you're measuring by 10 per second, you won't see the effect. What we have done is try to get rid of some of that uncertainty," he explains.
The proposed squeezing effect greatly reduces this uncertainty, but is generally hard to achieve. That's why the two researchers have created new models to find a way of obtaining the squeezing effect just by using current technologies.
"An atom laser makes use of atoms with special quantum properties rather the photons employed by a normal optical laser," Johnsson says. "This potentially allows for much more precise measurements, as well as measurements of effects that cannot be seen by an optical laser. Many of the things we do now with optical lasers, we hope to be able to do with atom lasers."
"Right now it is fair to say that an atom laser is more of a research tool," Johnsson concedes. "But in the 1960s, when optical lasers were first being used, the case was the same. But now there are all sorts of applications. We believe our work will lead to interesting applications for atom lasers."
What they hope to achieve is a steadier stream of atoms which would create a truly coherent beam in an atom laser, by eliminating uncertainty from one quality, like motion, to another, such as velocity, and vice-versa.
"This is one of the major things the experimentalists in our group want to do in the next couple of years. We could be closer to a better atom laser." he concluded