Self-sustained oscillations in a large magneto-optical trap

Phys Rev Lett. 2006 Jan 20;96(2):023003. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.023003. Epub 2006 Jan 19.

Abstract

We have observed self-sustained radial oscillations in a large magneto-optical trap, containing up to 10(10) Rb85 atoms. This instability is due to the competition between the confining force of the magneto-optical trap and the repulsive interaction associated with multiple scattering of light inside the cold atomic cloud. A simple analytical model allows us to formulate a criterion for the instability threshold, in fair agreement with our observations. This criterion shows that large numbers of trapped atoms N>10(9) are required to observe this unstable behavior.