Statistical properties of laser-induced fluorescence signals

We point out the influence of the different noise sources which occur in the detection of the fluorescence signal induced by a laser in an atomic beam. We have developed a theoretical model which takes account of the atomic shot noise, photon noise, laser-frequency noise and a partition noise linked to the imperfect detection of the fluorescence photons. The calculations have been performed for two- and three-level atomic systems. We detail the own contribution of each noise source and give some predictions concerning the value of the fluorescence signal to noise ratio. We determine predominance domains of each noise source which depend on the values of key parameters such as the atomic flux intensity and the laser spectral linewidth. We particularly show that the laser-frequency noise, which induces a coupling between the emission of fluorescence photons by various atoms, leads to a saturation of the S/N ratio for intense atomic fluxes. Moreover, we point out that the optical pumping process associated with a three level atomic system leads to an interesting laser-noise filtering effect.     

用于原子氧地面模拟设备精密压控恒流源

针对原子氧地面模拟设备需要通过电流源形成磁镜效应对其发射度进行约束,以及用于原子氧参数测试仪器校准,研制了一款基于运算放大器的精密压控恒流源。为了防止恒流源的供电电源纹波对电路性能的影响,又配套研制一款开关电源滤波器。最后测试表明:开关电源滤波器能有效减少电源噪声,+15V电源的纹波系数降到万分之一,恒流源输出电流10pA~1A,精度500fA,其稳定和负载稳定性优异。     

Continuous beams of cold atoms for space applications

The precision of atomic state measurements should ideally be limited by irreducible fluctuations associated with the number of atoms available, e.g. shot noise or quantum projection noise. In practice, other noise sources can limit the precision achievable; a well-known effect is the intermodulation effect, or Dick effect, which degrades the stability of atomic fountain clocks using pulsed sources. One way to beat this source of instability consists of interrogating the atoms with a microwave signal derived from exceptionally stable local oscillators, such as cryogenic oscillators, which are however bulky and not ideally suited to the constraints of space. Another way of reaching atomic-noise limited instability is to use continuous sources of cold atoms. Experimental results obtained both on a fountain standard and on an experimental Cs fountain illustrate the potential of continuous cold atomic beams for improving signal-to-noise ratio and precision of measurement. Current developments towards higher atomic beam flux are also described. PACS 39.10; 39.20; 39.25; 06.30.Ft; 07.77.Gx; 07.87.+v     

Theoretical analysis of suppressing Dick effect in Ramsey-CPT atomic clock by interleaving lock

For most pulsed atomic clocks, the Dick effect is one of the main limits to reach its frequency stability limitation due to quantum projection noise. In this paper, we measure the phase noise of the local oscillator in the Ramsey-CPT atomic clock and calculate the Dick effect induced Allan deviation based on a three-level atomic model, which is quite different from typical atomic clocks. We further present a detailed analysis of optimizing the sensitivity function and minimizing the Dick effect by interleaving lock. By optimizing the duty circle of laser pulses, average time during detection and optical intensity of laser beam, the Dick effect induced Allan deviation can be reduced to the level of 10~(-14).     

The Improvement of Signal to Noise Ratio Using a Pulsed Hollow Cathode Lamp and Gated Detector for Atomic Fluorescence Measurements

An expression for the maximum increase in signal to noise ratio obtainable with a pulsed hollow cathode lamp as primary source for atomic fluorescence measurements is derived under certain assumptions. Experience with copper and calcium hollow cathode lamps showed that by using these lamps in the pulsed mode in conjunction with a gated detector, the increase in signal to noise ratios obtained are less than a factor of 5, due to self-absorption broadening of the primary source emission lines.     

Atomic dipole traps with Amplified Spontaneous Emission: A proposal

We propose what we believe to be a novel type of optical source for ultra-cold atomic Far Off-Resonance optical-dipole Traps. The source is based on an Erbium Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) source that seeds a high power Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier. The main interest of this source is its very short coherence length, thus allowing an incoherent superposition of several trapping beams without any optical interference. The behavior of the superimposed beams is then a scalar sum greatly simplifying complex configurations. As an illustration, we report an estimation of the intensity noise of this source and an estimation of the additional atomic heating rate for an evaporative cooling experiment application. They are both found to be suitable for cold atoms experiments.     

Holevo-Ordering and the Continuous-Time Limit for Open Floquet Dynamics

We consider an atomic beam reservoir as a source of quantum noise. The atoms are modelled as two-state systems and interact one-at-a-time with the system. The Floquet operators are described in terms of the Fermionic creation, annihilation and number operators associated with the two-state atom. In the limit where the time between interactions goes to zero and the interaction is suitably scaled, we show that we may obtain a causal (that is, adapted) quantum stochastic differential equation of Hudson—Parthasarathy type, driven by creation, annihilation and conservation processes. The effect of the Floquet operators in the continuous limit is exactly captured by the Holevo ordered form for the stochastic evolution     

Resolution enhancement in noise spectrum by using velocity selective optical pumping in cesium vapor

We demonstrate experimentally that the resolution of amplitude noise spectrum in Cs atomic vapor can be enhanced by narrowing the absorption using velocity selective optical pumping technique. It is found that the steep atomic dispersion accompanied by high absorption leads to more conversion of laser phase noise to amplitude noise, when the field propagates throughout the atoms, and meanwhile the spectral resolution is improved. The effect of optical pumping intensity on the spectrum resolution is experimentally discussed, and a theoretical explanation for this phenomenon is given, which shows that the phase-to-amplitude noise conversion is directly proportional to the dispersion of medium.     

Stability of atomic clocks based on entangled atoms

We analyze the effect of realistic noise sources for an atomic clock consisting of a local oscillator that is actively locked to a spin-squeezed (entangled) ensemble of N atoms. We show that the use of entangled states can lead to an improvement of the long-term stability of the clock when the measurement is limited by decoherence associated with instability of the local oscillator combined with fluctuations in the atomic ensemble's Bloch vector. Atomic states with a moderate degree of entanglement yield the maximal clock stability, resulting in an improvement that scales as N(1/6) compared to the atomic shot noise level.     

小波域中的维纳滤波在综合脉冲星时算法中的应用

脉冲星自转非常稳定，可用作时间标准. 然而由单脉冲星定义的脉冲星时受多种噪声源的影响，其频率稳定度还不够好，因此可采取对多颗脉冲星定义的脉冲星时进行综合的方法来削弱各噪声源的影响，以提高脉冲星时的稳定度. 不同的脉冲星有着各自不同的自转频率，在不同频率段所受噪声的影响也不同，应用小波分析的方法对脉冲星时做综合，可以兼顾脉冲星时的长期与短期稳定度，在不同的频率范围取不同的权值以达到更好的结果；脉冲星的计时残差是由计时参考的原子时的误差和脉冲星计时误差两部分引起的，用维纳滤波的方法可以将两者分开，并主要以消除掉参考钟误差后的残差为计时残差实现对脉冲星计时的综合. 在这两种方法的基础上，提出一种基于小波域中的维纳滤波方法，利用小波独有的特性和维纳滤波最小误差估计的优点，更有效地消除噪声对脉冲星时的影响. 实验结果表明，该方法可以有效降低脉冲星计时残差中的噪声影响.     

Spontaneous noise spectroscopy of an atomic magnetic resonance

We have experimentally demonstrated a new type of noise spectroscopy, which requires neither amplitude nor frequency noise of the light source. A highly stabilized diode laser provides low-noise light for the optical magnetic resonance of Rb atoms. The laser light transmitted through the Rb vapor contains significant intensity fluctuations whose power spectrum has a distinct peak at the Larmor frequency. The fluctuations are spontaneously generated by the atoms and are attributed to the stochastic properties of the photon scattering which randomly interrupts the Larmor precession of the atomic magnetic moment.     

Generation of squeezed atomic states in cavity QED

A squeezed atomic state is that state of a system of two-level atoms for which the intrinsic quantum noise in a process of measurement is less than the minimum noise obtained by using a spin coherent state. It is shown that such a state is generated in certain time intervals when a non-squeezed atomic state evolves on interaction with a single mode coherent field inside a lossless cavity. The atoms are assumed to undergo one-photon or two-photon transitions between the given two levels. The maximum atomic squeezing is found as a function of the number of atoms and the field strength. The effect of the field-dependent Stark shift is investigated in the case of the atoms undergoing two-photon transitions.     

内部体积源作用下的圆柱壳内外声场特性

圆柱壳内各型体积源辐射噪声特性研究是声场建模和声场预报的前提.为了研究具有指向性的大尺度体积源特性对水下航行器结构内外声场的影响,本文结合薄壳理论、等效源和柱腔Green函数构造了体积源激励下的壳体振动耦合方程,研究了体积源表面声散射作用和指向性强弱对圆柱壳内外声场的影响.数值计算结果表明,体积源构造的准确性与其等效源位置有关,等效源配置在体积源几何中心与其结构表面之间0.4—0.6时,可以提高声场计算结果的准确性;大尺度体积源表面的声散射作用会导致壳体内部声场结构发生改变,内声场声腔共振峰发生偏移,并且在部分频段引起较强的声透射现象;此外,体积源指向性变化对壳体内外声场强弱影响较小,其显著作用表现在改变了外辐射声场的远场指向性.该研究结果对噪声预报和控制有一定的参考价值.     

微米气室铯原子自旋噪声谱

利用自旋噪声谱技术研究了无缓冲气体133Cs原子气室的自旋动力学和展宽机制.在宏观原子气室中,自旋弛豫速率失谐频率谱的线型为高斯分布;在空间局域较强的微米气室中,自旋弛豫速率失谐频率谱的线型为洛伦兹分布.实验测量得到的自旋弛豫速率失谐频率谱的展宽约4 GHz,明显大于宏观原子气室中约度强烈依赖于激光相对于原子共振跃迁的频率失谐;在微米气室中,由于较强的均匀展宽,总噪声的失谐频率谱中心处出现明显的凹陷.通过建立简化的物理模型来计算微米气室的展宽机制,在实验与理论中解释了原子的均匀展宽特性.     

用于铯芯片级原子钟的4.596 GHz射频源研制

芯片级原子钟主要包括射频模块、物理封装模块以及其他的外围控制模块。射频模块的设计关系到芯片级原子钟的短期稳定度,所以射频模块在芯片级原子钟的设计时是非常重要的一部分。本文利用数字锁相环技术实现频率为4.596 GHz的射频源,射频源由三部分组成,包括小数分频频率综合器、压控振荡器和环路滤波器。数字锁相环具有相位噪声低,频谱稳定度高等特点。此外,由于小数分频频率综合器是可编程的,可以通过配置N分频器与R分频器实现输出频率的快速扫描。与此同时,根据相关公式,可以计算出三阶无源环路滤波器的近似参数值,所设计的环路滤波器具有300 kHz的环路带宽以及55的相位裕度。最后,整个基于数字锁相环技术实现的射频源通过仿真、硬件实现以及测试。测试结果显示,射频源的相位噪声为-74.02 dBc/Hz@300 Hz,符合芯片级原子钟射频源的设计要求。     

NUMERICAL MODELLING OF MEDIAN ROAD TRAFFIC NOISE BARRIERS

Outdoor sound propagation from road traffic is modelled by solving a boundary integral equation formulation of the wave equation using boundary element techniques in two dimensions. In the first model, the source representing a traffic stream can be considered as a coherent line source of sound. The results can then be transformed to derive a pseudo-three dimensional solution to the problem. In the second model the line source is incoherent. For receivers near the ground, the second model predicted significantly higher values of ground attenuation than the first. The first model generally produced better agreement with ground attenuation results obtained using the U.K. traffic noise prediction model. For conditions when a noise barrier was present and the ground was absorbent, the incoherent line source model generally predicted significantly higher values of attenuation than those from the barrier and ground attenuation calculated separately. Over a range of receiver positions and barrier heights a similar, but less marked effect was observed when the coherent line source model was used. On dual carriageway roads, it is possible to incorporate barriers on the central reservation as a noise control measure. These are “median” noise barriers. The incoherent line source model is used to assess the performance of median barriers in reducing noise when installed alone and also with associated roadside barriers. A sound absorbent median noise barrier 1m in height produced consistent values of insertion loss of between 1 and 2dB over the range of receiver positions and ground conditions considered. When the median barrier was used in conjunction with a roadside barrier it produced a consistent improvement in insertion loss of between 1 and 2 dB over the range of conditions considered.     

Noise reduction efforts for the ALS infrared beamlines

The quality of infrared microscopy and spectroscopy data collected at synchrotron based sources is strongly dependent on signal-to-noise. We have successfully identified and suppressed several noise sources affecting beamlines 1.4.2, 1.4.3, and 1.4.4 at the advanced light source (ALS), resulting in a significant increase in the quality of FTIR spectra obtained. In this paper, we present our methods of noise source analysis, the negative effect of noise on the infrared beam quality, and the techniques used to reduce the noise. These include reducing the phase noise in the storage ring radio-frequency (RF) system, installing an active mirror feedback system, analyzing and changing physical mounts to better isolate portions of the beamline optics from low-frequency environmental noise, and modifying the input signals to the main ALS RF system. We also discuss the relationship between electron beam energy oscillations at a point of dispersion and infrared beamline noise.     

ARJ21客机降落阶段起落架噪声试验研究

为了测量ARJ21客机的起落架噪声,在飞行现场分别采用改进的频域波束形成和解卷积算法对降落阶段的起落架噪声进行了测量。通过比较两种算法发现,解卷积算法比改进的频域波束形成算法具有更好的声源识别能力。为了提高传声器的利用率,设计了多臂螺旋阵,并且利用线性插值消除了多普勒效应。根据主起落架和前起落架的分布位置不同,将声源识别区域划分为两部分,在140—800Hz范围内对不同频段的1/3倍频程的起落架噪声进行了测量。结果发现:在250 Hz以上频段,主起落架为主要噪声源,且在中心频率500 Hz的1/3倍频程内为唯一强声源;前起落架在中心频率630 Hz的1/3倍频程内为主要噪声源。通过试验得到了主起落架和前起落架噪声在不同频段的分布特点,为起落架降噪设计提供了支持。      

Atomic spectroscopy with squeezed light for sensitivity beyond the vacuum-state limit

A frequency tunable source of squeezed light has been developed which is suitable for a variety of spectroscopic applications. In initial experiments continuous tunability over a range of 2 GHz has been achieved with a directly observed nonclassical noise reduction of 6 dB relative to the vacuum-state limit in a balanced homodyne detector. A process of light-induced absorption in the nonlinear crystal has been identified as the principal loss mechanism which prevents the observation of yet larger degrees of squeezing. Although our source is potentially broadly tunable over the range of wavelengths from 840 to 970 nm, the current research centers on the performance at 852 nm for spectroscopy of the D ₂ line of atomic cesium. For frequency-modulated (FM) saturation spectroscopy in a vapor cell, an improvement of 3.1 dB in sensitivity relative to the usual quantum limit is demonstrated for the detection of Doppler-free resonances. When corrected for the thermal noise of the detector, the enhancement in signal-to-noise ratio brought by the squeezed field is 3.8 dB relative to the shot-noise limit set by the vacuum fluctuations of the probe field.     

M-type atomic basic cell as a low intensity long wavelength infrared photodetector

A five-level atomic system in M-type configuration has been proposed in this article as a long-wavelength infrared photodetector cell. Coherent population trapping and electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is appeared in this kind of atomic structure. In order to overcome the dark current noise problem in the long-wavelength infrared photodetectors, we utilize quantum interference phenomena between the electromagnetic fields and interpret the incoming long-wavelength to short-wavelength detection range, where the dark current noise is not critical. The proposed M-type-arranged atomic system, have high performance in lower intensities of long-wavelength IR which is more interesting from high-sensitive photodetector point of view.