Observation of Collective Friction Forces due to Spatial Self-Organization of Atoms: From Rayleigh to Bragg Scattering

We demonstrate that emission-induced self-organization of two-level atoms can effect strong damping of the sample's center-of-mass motion. When illuminated by far-detuned light, cold cesium atoms assemble into a density grating that efficiently diffracts the incident light into an optical resonator. We observe random phase jumps of pi in the emitted light, confirming spontaneous symmetry breaking in the atomic self-organization. The Bragg diffraction results in a collective friction force with center-of-mass deceleration up to 1000 m/s(2) that is effective even for an open atomic transition.