TY - JOUR
T1 - Metastable helium
T2 - Atom optics with nano-grenades
AU - Baldwin, Kenneth G.H.
PY - 2005/3
Y1 - 2005/3
N2 - In this, the hundredth year since Einstein first postulated the existence of photons, the successful application of wave-particle duality to matter has seen an explosion of activity in the field of atom optics and Bose- Einstein condensation (BEC). This article provides a brief introduction to atom optics, illustrated with applications taken from experiments using helium atoms in long-lived (metastable) excited states. Metastable helium atoms store the greatest amount of energy (∼20 electron volts) in any atomic or molecular system. They behave like nano-hand grenades, making it easy to detect single atoms, opening up promising applications as well as fundamental studies of the quantum statistical properties of atomic systems.
AB - In this, the hundredth year since Einstein first postulated the existence of photons, the successful application of wave-particle duality to matter has seen an explosion of activity in the field of atom optics and Bose- Einstein condensation (BEC). This article provides a brief introduction to atom optics, illustrated with applications taken from experiments using helium atoms in long-lived (metastable) excited states. Metastable helium atoms store the greatest amount of energy (∼20 electron volts) in any atomic or molecular system. They behave like nano-hand grenades, making it easy to detect single atoms, opening up promising applications as well as fundamental studies of the quantum statistical properties of atomic systems.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=12444257372&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/00107510412331332798
DO - 10.1080/00107510412331332798
M3 - Article
SN - 0010-7514
VL - 46
SP - 105
EP - 120
JO - Contemporary Physics
JF - Contemporary Physics
IS - 2
ER -