Physics Department Faculty:
Mara Prentiss
Mallinckrodt Professor of PhysicsPhD 1986, MIT
The research group headed by Mara Prentiss emphasizes the
manipulation of matter by light. The experiments are based
on the interaction between a laser field and the dipole moment
induced in an atom by the field. Professor Prentiss is head
of the Consortium for Light Force Dynamics, through which the
group collaborates with NIST at Gaithersburg, Colorado State
University, and the Harvard Chemistry Department.
The Prentiss group has pioneered the field of atom lithography,
which uses light to manipulate a neutral atomic beam as it is
deposited on a substrate.
Other atom optics research has included theoretical and experimental
work on focusing and beamsplitting techniques, including research
with the Westervelt group using magnetic fields to control atomic
motion. In addition, the Prentiss group has explored novel atom
cooling and trapping techniques and has used light forces to
self-assemble optical devices. Finally, a collaboration with
the Whitesides group in the Harvard Chemistry Department has
demonstrated polymer and silica waveguides fabricated using microtransfer
molding. Investigations of applications of the waveguides to
optical communication, sensing, and atom optics are in progress.
- J. Lawall and M. Prentiss, "Demonstration of a novel atomic beam splitter". Phys. Rev. Lett. 72: 993 (1994).
- A. Chu, M. Prentiss, et. al., "Polarization gradient assisted velocity selective coherent population trapping". Phys. Rev. A 51: 2289 (1995).
- K.K. Berggren, A. Bard, et. al., "Microlithography using neutral metastable atoms and self-assembled monolayers". Science 269: 1255 (1995).
- A.K. Chu, K. Johnson, and M. Prentiss, "A virtual slit for atom optics and nanolithography". Quantum Semiclass. Opt. 8: 521 (1996).
- K.S. Johnson, K.K. Berggren, et. al., "Using neutral metastable argon atoms and contamination lithography to form nanostructures in silicon, silicon dioxide and gold". App. Phys. Lett. 69(8): 2773 (1996).