Photon,quantum and collective,effects from rydberg atoms in cavities

I review some theories of the interaction ofN Rydberg atoms interacting collectively with radiation in microwave cavities. The radiation may be incoherent (black body) radiation or it may be coherent. In the former case theories of the steady state inversion and of the superradiance from initially inverted atoms in low-Q cavities agree well with experimental observations. In the latter case in low-Q cavities ‘phase transitions’ of both first and second order types are predicted and should be observable by monitoring the output of an atomic beam by an atomic ionisation detector. The first order transition which occurs at opposite detunings of the cavity and atoms from the frequency of the coherent driving field is of “optically” bistable type but hysteresis is suppressed by quantum fluctuations which can be large in the cavity field close to the transition. I also review a theory of the spectra from single atoms in cavities ofarbitrary Q containing a few microwave photons. A transition from a single peaked Lorentzian spectrum at low-Q to a double-peaked spectrum forQ≃10⁶ is predicted and peaks representing one or more photon transitions of the Jaynes-Cummings model are also expected to be observable at these or largerQ values. The collective theories are all based onN atom Dicke type models driven by the coherent or incoherent field. Substantial squeezing of the fluorescent radiation field from these Dicke models is also predicted and may be observable with Rydberg atoms.     

Double-resonance <Emphasis Type="Italic">g</Emphasis>-factor measurements by quantum jump spectroscopy

With the advent of high-precision frequency combs that can bridge large frequency intervals, new possibilities have opened up for the laser spectroscopy of atomic transitions. Here, it is shown that laser spectroscopic techniques can also be used to determine the ground-state g factor of a bound electron. The proposal is based on a double-resonance experiment, where the spin state of a ground-state electron is constantly being read out by laser excitation to the atomic L shell, while the spin flip transitions are being induced simultaneously by a resonant microwave field, leading to the detection of the quantum jumps between the ground-state Zeeman sublevels. The magnetic moments of electrons in light hydrogen-like ions could thus be measured with advanced laser technology. Corresponding theoretical predictions are also presented. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Laser cooling of Cd<Superscript>+</Superscript> ions using a microwave transition as a repumping process

Cadmium ions trapped in a linear Paul trap have been laser cooled by use of a microwave transition as a repumping process. A 15.2-GHz microwave transition between a ground-state hyperfine splitting is used for repumping, while an all-solid-state laser with the wavelength of 214 nm drives the cooling transition between the ² S _1/2 and ² P _3/2 states. A phase transition from the cloud state to the crystal state of trapped ions has been observed both in fluorescence spectra and in images of an ion string. Cadmium ions have potential of application for quantum information processing where the ground-state microwave transition is used for both a repumping process and manipulation of quantum states of trapped ions. PACS 32.80.Pj     

A thermometry technique based on atomic lineshapes using diode laser LIF in flames

We report on the development of a novel diode laser thermometry technique permitting temperature measurements in flames based on the fluorescence lineshapes of an atomic tracer species. The technique, which we term OLAF (one-line atomic fluorescence) requires only a single diode laser source for excitation, is simple to implement, and has excellent spatial resolution. Temperatures are deduced from the 5²P_1/2 → 6²S_1/2 transition of atomic indium, the lineshape of which is highly sensitive to temperature changes at typical flame conditions. A rigorous validation is performed in a reference flame with comparisons to measurements by CARS and by Na-line reversal, and to numerical simulations.     

Derivation of quantum yields for visible emission transitions of Sm in heavy metal tellurite glass

Under the pumping of violet lighting emitting diode, quantum yields for multichannel transition emissions have been determined in Sm³⁺-doped heavy metal tellurite glass for the first time. For the derivation, the necessary fluorescence spectra were measured and calibrated in an integrating sphere connected to a CCD detector with a 400 μm-core optical fiber. The spectral power distribution of the sample was derived from the measured spectra first, and then the quantum yields of the visible emissions of Sm³⁺ were calculated based on the distribution. The total quantum yield for four emission transitions of Sm³⁺ in visible region is 4.07%. Integrating sphere with a CCD detector is proven to be a reliable and reproducible method to characterize luminescence and laser materials.     

Deterministic single-photon source for distributed quantum networking

A sequence of single photons is emitted on demand from a single three-level atom strongly coupled to a high-finesse optical cavity. The photons are generated by an adiabatically driven stimulated Raman transition between two atomic ground states, with the vacuum field of the cavity stimulating one branch of the transition, and laser pulses deterministically driving the other branch. This process is unitary and therefore intrinsically reversible, which is essential for quantum communication and networking, and the photons should be appropriate for all-optical quantum information processing.     

Telegraph noise in coupled quantum dot circuits induced by a quantum point contact

Charge detection utilizing a highly biased quantum point contact has become the most effective probe for studying few electron quantum dot circuits. Measurements on double and triple quantum dot circuits is performed to clarify a back action role of charge sensing on the confined electrons. The quantum point contact triggers inelastic transitions, which occur quite generally. Under specific device and measurement conditions these transitions manifest themselves as bounded regimes of telegraph noise within a stability diagram. A nonequilibrium transition from artificial atomic to molecular behavior is identified. Consequences for quantum information applications are discussed.     

Photostability of single-photon emission from a single quantum dot in the 650-nm wavelength band at room temperature

The photoluminescence correlation from a single CdSe nanocrystal under pulsed excitation is studied, and a single photon is realized at wavelength 655 nm at room temperature. The single colloidal CdSe quantum dot is prepared on a SiO₂/silicon surface by a drop-and-drag technique. The long-term stability of the single-photon source is investigated; it is found that the antibunching effect weakens with excitation time, and the reason for the weakening is attributed to photobleaching. The lifetimes of photoluminescence from a single quantum dot are analyzed at different excitation times. By analyzing the probability distribution of on and off times of photoluminescence, the Auger assisted tunneling and Auger assisted photobleaching models are applied to explain the antibunching phenomenon.     

Robust entanglement through macroscopic quantum jumps

We propose an entanglement generation scheme that requires neither the coherent evolution of a quantum system nor the detection of single photons. Instead, the desired state is heralded by a macroscopic quantum jump. Macroscopic quantum jumps manifest themselves as a random telegraph signal with long intervals of intense fluorescence (light periods) interrupted by the complete absence of photons (dark periods). Here we show that a system of two atoms trapped inside an optical cavity can be designed such that a dark period prepares the atoms in a maximally entangled ground state. Achieving fidelities above 0.9 is possible even when the single-atom cooperativity parameter is as low as 10 and when using a photon detector with an efficiency as low as eta=0.2.     

Sub-Doppler spectroscopy of atoms excited in the regime of Rabi oscillations in a thin gas cell

We carried out theoretical investigation about velocity-selective atomic excitation on long-lived (metastable) levels of an atomic vapour in a thin cell by a monochromatic laser beam, running in the normal direction. The regime of coherent Rabi oscillations is considered on the light-induced transition from a sublevel of the ground quantum term to a metastable atomic level. On the basis of density matrix equations for the two-level system, we analysed the atomic population density of the metastable level, when the sample is irradiated by resonant monochromatic laser beam with an annular cross-section versus atomic velocities and versus the detuning, the amplitude, and the geometry of the laser beam. It is shown that, in the centre of the annular region, it can be obtained a population distribution on the metastable level as a function of the laser detuning, characterized by a sharp narrow resonance profile, whose width is reduced with respect to the thermal Doppler width roughly by the ratio between the diameter of the irradiated region and the inner thickness of the cell. We suggest high-sensitive schemes, in order to detect these sub-Doppler resonances, by probing the population of the metastable state with a second laser beam, resonant with a transition leaving from the metastable level. The case of ¹S₀ → ³P₁ spin-forbidden transition of Ca is discussed in more detail     

Muonium quantum diffusion and localization in cryocrystals

We review our recent study of atomic muonium ( ⁺e^– or Mu, a light isotope of the hydrogen atom) diffusion in the simplest solids-van der Waals cryocrystals. We give experimental evidence of the quantum-mechanical nature of the Mu diffusion in these solids. The results are compared with the current theories of quantum diffusion in insulators. In solid nitrogen bothT ⁷ andT ^–7 temperature dependences of the Mu hop rate are observed directly for the first time, which is taken as a confirmation of a two-phonon scattering mechanism. In solid xenon and krypton, by contrast, the one-phonon interaction is dominant in the whole temperature range under investigation due to extremely low values of the Debye temperatures. Particular attention is dedicated to processes of inhomogeneous quantum diffusion and Mu localization. It is shown that at low temperatures static crystal disorder results in an inhomogeneity of the Mu quantum diffusion which turns out to be inconsistent with diffusion models using a single correlation time _c . Conventional trapping mechanisms are shown to be ineffective at low temperatures in insulators. The localization effects in Mu quantum diffusion are studied in detail in solid Kr. In all the cryocrystals studied muonium atom turns out to be localized at low temperatures.     

Dephasing of a qubit due to quantum and classical noise

The qubit (or a system of two quantum dots) has become a standard paradigm for studying quantum information processes. Our focus is decoherence due to interaction of the qubit with its environment, leading to noise. We consider quantum noise generated by a dissipative quantum bath. A detailed comparative study with the results for a classical noise source such as generated by a telegraph process, enables us to set limits on the applicability of this process vis à vis its quantum counterpart, as well as lend handle on the parameters that can be tuned for analysing decoherence. Both Ohmic and non-Ohmic dissipations are treated and appropriate limits are analysed for facilitating comparison with the telegraph process.     

Exact solutions and geometric phase factor of time-dependent three-generator quantum systems

There exist a number of typical and interesting systems and/or models, which possess three-generator Lie-algebraic structure, in atomic physics, quantum optics, nuclear physics and laser physics. The well-known fact that all simple 3-generator algebras are either isomorphic to the algebra sl (2, C) or to one of its real forms enables us to treat these time-dependent quantum systems in a unified way. By making use of both the Lewis-Riesenfeld invariant theory and the invariant-related unitary transformation formulation, the present paper obtains exact solutions of the time-dependent Schr?dinger equations governing various three-generator Lie-algebraic quantum systems. For some quantum systems whose time-dependent Hamiltonians have no quasialgebraic structures, it is shown that the exact solutions can also be obtained by working in a sub-Hilbert-space corresponding to a particular eigenvalue of the conserved generator (i.e., the time-independent invariant that commutes with the time-dependent Hamiltonian). The topological property of geometric phase factors and its adiabatic limit in time-dependent systems is briefly discussed. Received 6 July 2002 / Received in final form 21 October 2002 Published online 11 February 2003     

Polaronic effects on laser dressed donor impurities in a quantum well

The effect of laser field on the binding energy in a GaAs/Ga1_1−xAl_xAs quantum well within the single band effective mass-approximation is investigated. Exciton binding energy is calculated as a function of well width with the renormalization of the semiconductor gap and conduction valence effective masses. The calculation includes the laser dressing effects on both the impurity Coulomb potential and the confinement potential. The valence-band anisotropy is included in our theoretical model. The 2D Hartree–Fock spatial dielectric function and the polaronic effects have been employed in our calculations. We investigate that reduction of binding energy in a doped quantum well due to screening effect and the intense laser field leads to semiconductor–metal transition.     

Statistics of photocounts of blinking fluorescence of quantum dots

The blinking of quantum dots under the action of laser radiation is described based on a model of a binary (two-state) renewal process with on (fluorescent) and off (non fluorescent) states. The T _on and T _off sojourn times in the on and off states are random and power-law distributed with exponents 0 < α < 1 and 0 < β < 1; the averages of the on and off times are infinite. As a consequence of this, the Gaussian statistics is inapplicable and the process is described using a more general statistics. An equation for the density of distribution p(t _on|t) of the total on time during the observation time t is derived that contains derivatives of fractional orders α and β. A solution to this equation is found in terms of fractional stable distributions. The Poisson transform of the density p(t _on|t) leads to the photon counting distribution and determines the fluorescence statistics. It is demonstrated that, if a blinking process with exponents α < β is implemented, then, at fairly long times, the on time will considerably prevail over the off time, i.e., blinking will be suppressed. This behavior is evidenced by the types of distributions of the total fluorescence time, the decay of relative fluctuations, and the Monte Carlo simulated trajectories of the process.     

Laser cooling of a single Ca+ ion: Observation of quantum jumps

This paper describes trapping and laser cooling of a Ca⁺ ion in an rf quadrupole ion trap. A single Ca⁺ ion is laser cooled to below 130 mK and quantum jumps are observed by exciting the ion into the metastable D _5/2 state via the P _3/2 state. The lifetime of the metastable D _5/2 state is estimated from the distribution of the dark periods of the quantum-jump signal. Collision-induced jumps between the metastable D _3/2 state and the D _5/2 state in a background gas are also directly observed.     

Studies of the quantum Hall to quantum Hall insulator transition in InSb-based 2DESs

The temperature dependence of ρ_xx is studied in the vicinity of the quantum Hall to quantum Hall insulator transition (ν=1→0) in InSb/InAlSb based 2DESs. ρ_xx displays a symmetric temperature dependence about the transition with on the QH side and on the insulating side. A plot of 1/T₀ for successive ν displays power-law divergence with 1/T₀∝|ν−ν_c|^−γ,² with γ=2.2±0.3. This critical behavior in addition to the behavior expected of the quantum transport regime confirms that the QH/QHI transition is indeed a good quantum phase transition.     

Spectroscopic analysis of Pr3+:CaYAlO4 crystal

The polarized absorption, emission spectra and decay time measurements of Pr³⁺-doped CaYAlO₄ single crystal have been performed at room temperature. Based on the Judd–Ofelt theory, the spectroscopic parameters \(\Upomega_{t} (t = 2,4,6)\) , radiative transition probabilities, radiative lifetimes and branching ratios were obtained. The stimulated emission cross-section, fluorescence lifetimes and the quantum efficiency of the promising laser transition were also calculated and compared with other reported crystals. The results show that Pr³⁺:CaYAlO₄ is a promising candidate for visible solid-state laser emission.     

Electron-related optical responses in triple δ-doped quantum wells

A detailed theoretical study on the electron-related optical responses in triple δ-doped GaAs quantum wells in the presence of non-resonant, monochromatic intense laser field is presented. For this purpose, we first obtained the bound subband energy levels and their corresponding envelope wave functions of the structure for different central doping concentrations within the effective-mass approximation. Then, we calculate the effect of the non-resonant intense laser field on the optical properties of this structure using the compact-density-matrix approach via the iterative method. We found that the optical absorption coefficients and refractive index changes in the triple δ-doped GaAs quantum well can be modulated by changing the central doping concentration and the intensity of the non-resonant, monochromatic laser field. In addition, it is shown that a sufficiently intense laser field suppresses the multiple quantum well configuration towards a single potential well one and the optical response becomes practically independent of the δ-doping concentration.     

Two-neutron transfer reactions as a tool to study the interplay between shape coexistence and quantum phase transitions

The atomic mass table presents zones where the structure of the states changes rapidly as a function of the neutron or proton number. Among them, notable examples are the A ≈ 100 Zr region, the Pb region around the neutron midshell (N = 104), and the N ≈ 90 rare-earth region. The observed phenomena can be understood in terms of either shape coexistence or quantum phase transitions. The objective of this study is to find an observable that can distinguish between both shape coexistence and quantum phase transitions. As an observable to be analyzed, we selected the two-neutron transfer intensity between the 0⁺ states in the parent and daughter nuclei. The framework used for this study is the Interacting Boson Model (IBM), including its version with configuration mixing (IBM-CM). To generate wave functions of isotope chains of interest needed for calculating transfer intensities, previous systematic studies using IBM and IBM-CM were used without changing the parameters. The results of two-neutron transfer intensities are presented for Zr, Hg, and Pt isotopic chains using IBM-CM. Moreover, for Zr, Pt, and Sm isotopic chains, the results are presented using IBM with only a single configuration, i.e., without using configuration mixing. For Zr, the two-neutron transfer intensities between the ground states provide a clear observable, indicating that normal and intruder configurations coexist in the low-lying spectrum and cross at A = 98 → 100. This can help clarify whether shape coexistence induces a given quantum phase transition. For Pt, in which shape coexistence is present and the regular and intruder configurations cross for the ground state, there is almost no impact on the value of the two-neutron transfer intensity. Similar is the situation with Hg, where the ground state always has a regular nature. For the Sm isotope chain, which is one of the quantum phase transition paradigms, the value of the two-neutron transfer intensity is affected strongly.