Most lasers have a round Gaussian beam profile, however if you wiggle (scan) the beam around at high enough frequencies you can trace out complex patterns. This work is related to the optical ferris wheels created by superposing two Laguerre-Gauss beams, however interferometric stability is no longer a requirement for reproducible patterns - the phase of the lattice is purely defined by the acousto-optic modulators' radio frequency control. More details can be found in our paper. We intend to use these patterns in conjunction with our Bose-Einstein condensation experiments.
Acousto-optical ferris wheel (top row), and acousto-optic Mott Insulator (bottom row). Experimental data are shown on the left, and theoretical profiles are shown on the right.
