Trapping of neutral rubidium with a macroscopic three-phase electric trap

We trap neutral ground-state rubidium atoms in a macroscopic trap based on purely electric fields. For this, three electrostatic field configurations are alternated in a periodic manner. The rubidium is precooled in a magneto-optical trap, transferred into a magnetic trap, and then translated into the electric trap. The electric trap consists of six rod-shaped electrodes in cubic arrangement, giving ample optical access. Up to 10;{5} atoms have been trapped with an initial temperature of around 20 microkelvin in the three-phase electric trap. The observations are in good agreement with detailed numerical simulations.     

Heating rate and electrode charging measurements in a scalable, microfabricated, surface-electrode ion trap

We characterise the performance of a surface-electrode ion “chip” trap fabricated using established semiconductor integrated circuit and micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) microfabrication processes, which are in principle scalable to much larger ion trap arrays, as proposed for implementing ion trap quantum information processing. We measure rf ion micromotion parallel and perpendicular to the plane of the trap electrodes, and find that on-package capacitors reduce this to ?10?nm in amplitude. We also measure ion trapping lifetime, charging effects due to laser light incident on the trap electrodes, and the heating rate for a single trapped ion. The performance of this trap is found to be comparable with others of the same size scale.     

表面离子阱的衬底效应模型研究及新型离子阱设计

通过分析表面离子阱衬底的功率损失和电势损失对离子阱阱深和离子加热速率的影响,提出考虑衬底效应的阱深和离子加热速率的解析分析模型.研究发现,硅基衬底的电势损失对表面离子阱阱深的降幅达17.19%,功率损失对离子加热速率的加速达13.37%.为了降低衬底效应的不利影响,设计了衬底真空隔离结构的表面离子阱,在离子阱射频电极和直流电极间的衬底表面刻蚀出多条隔离槽,从而减小衬底的等效电导和等效电容,达到降低衬底功率和电势损失的目的.模拟结果显示,相比于一般结构,真空隔离结构的硅基表面离子阱能够使阱深加深20.22%,使衬底功率损失降低54.55%.     

Directly Trapping Atoms in a U-Shaped Magneto-Optical Trap Using a Mini Atom Chip

We experimentally demonstrate the trapping of ^85Rb atoms directly on a chip-size U-shaped magneto-optical trap （U-MOT）. The trap includes a U-shaped wire on the chip, two bias magnetic field coils and laser beams. The capture volume of the U-MOT is theoretically calculated, and the trap is experimentally realized. With 2 A current applied to the U-shaped wire and 2-Gauss horizontal bias field, more than 2 × 10^6 atoms are trapped. In contrast with an ordinary mirror-MOT, this U-MOT captures atoms directly from the background, thus the trap size is greatly reduced. Based on this mini trap scheme, it is possible to realize a chip-size atom trap array for quantum information processing.     

Long-term drifts of stray electric fields in a Paul trap

We investigate the evolution of quasi-static stray electric fields in a linear Paul trap over a period of several months. Depending on how these electric fields are initially induced, we observe very different timescales for the field drifts. Photo-induced electric fields decay on timescales of days. We interpret this as photo-electrically generated charges on insulating materials which decay via discharge currents. In contrast, stray fields due to the exposure of the ion trap to a beam of Ba atoms mainly exhibit slow dynamics on the order of months. We explain this observation as a consequence of a coating of the trap electrodes by the atomic beam. This may lead to contact potentials which can slowly drift over time due to atomic diffusion and chemical processes on the surface. In order not to perturb the field evolutions, we suppress the generation of additional charges and atomic coatings in the Paul trap during the measurements. For this, we shield the ion trap from ambient light and only allow the use of near-infrared lasers. Furthermore, we minimize the flux of atoms into the ion trap chamber. Long-term operation of our shielded trap led us to a regime of very low residual electric field drifts of less than 0.03 V/m per day.     

Semi-analytical model for quasi-double-layer surface electrode ion traps

To realize scale quantum processors,the surface-electrode ion trap is an effective scaling approach,including singlelayer,double-layer,and quasi-double-layer traps.To calculate critical trap parameters such as the trap center and trap depth,the finite element method(FEM) simulation was widely used,however,it is always time consuming.Moreover,the FEM simulation is also incapable of exhibiting the direct relationship between the geometry dimension and these parameters.To eliminate the problems above,House and Madsen et al.have respectively provided analytic models for single-layer traps and double-layer traps.In this paper,we propose a semi-analytical model for quasi-double-layer traps.This model can be applied to calculate the important parameters above of the ion trap in the trap design process.With this model,we can quickly and precisely find the optimum geometry design for trap electrodes in various cases.     

一种新颖的实现冷原子囚禁的可控制光学六阱及其光学晶格

提出了一种利用单束平面光波照明二元π相位板与透镜组合系统实现冷原子或冷分子囚禁的可控制光学六阱的方案,计算与分析了该方案产生的光学势阱的光强分布和光学六阱的特征参数、强度梯度及其曲率,讨论了从光学六阱到双阱或到单阱的演化过程,研究表明通过改变二元π相位板上的相位分布,即可实现光学六阱到双阱或到单阱的连续双向演化.     

Antihydrogen production within a Penning-Ioffe trap

Slow antihydrogen (H) is produced within a Penning trap that is located within a quadrupole Ioffe trap, the latter intended to ultimately confine extremely cold, ground-state H[over ] atoms. Observed H[over ] atoms in this configuration resolve a debate about whether positrons and antiprotons can be brought together to form atoms within the divergent magnetic fields of a quadrupole Ioffe trap. The number of detected H atoms actually increases when a 400 mK Ioffe trap is turned on.     

Theory of modified thermally stimulated current and direct determination of trap level distribution

In order to investigate the trap level distribution in polymer films, a new method is proposed based on modified thermally stimulated current (TSC) theory and numerical calculation of the TSC measurement. In this method, a new function is defined to weight the contribution of every trap level to the external current. The demarcation energy is used to study the trap emptying process. The modified TSC theory shows that only the electrons with trap levels very close to the demarcation energy can significantly contribute to the external circuit at any instant temperature. Based on this method, the trap level distribution of the DuPont original polyimide film 100HN and nanocomposite polyimide film 100CR are investigated as an application example. The effectiveness of the method is confirmed by the experiments. The experimental results show that the trap level density in the 100CR PI films is about six times larger than that in the 100HN PI films through the investigated trap level ranges 06–1.3 eV. The increased traps in 100CR should be introduced by nanofillers, probably come from the interfaces formed between nanofillers and the polymer matrix.     

A reciprocal magnetic trap for neutral atoms

A novel magnetic trap for confining ultracold neutral atoms in a ring is proposed. The magnetic trap is generated by a microfabricated ferromagnetic structure integrated on an “atom chip”. The structure is based on previously demonstrated fabrication techniques and is capable of creating tightly confining reciprocal traps with trap frequencies as large as 50 kHz. Also, the trap exhibits significantly smaller magnetic field inhomogeneities compared to other proposals for current-based reciprocal traps. The suitability of this trap for atom interferometry and the study of low dimensional ultracold systems is outlined.     

Atom interferometers manipulated through the toroidal trap realized by the interference patterns of Laguerre-Gaussian beams

In this paper, we proposed new constructions of atom interferometers manipulated through the toroidal trap formed by the interference patterns of two co-propagation Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams. The coherent splitting and merging of the atomic ensemble, which is essential for the atom interferometer, is realized by the interference pattern of two LG beams. Along the beam propagation direction, a single-well trap is evolved into a double-well trap and then recombined back into a single-well trap, which can be used to form an atom interferometer.     

Prospects for sympathetic cooling of molecules in electrostatic, ac and microwave traps

We consider how trapped molecules can be sympathetically cooled by ultracold atoms. As a prototypical system, we study LiH molecules co-trapped with ultracold Li atoms. We calculate the elastic and inelastic collision cross sections of ⁷LiH + ⁷Li with the molecules initially in the ground state and in the first rotationally excited state. We then use these cross sections to simulate sympathetic cooling in a static electric trap, an ac electric trap, and a microwave trap. In the static trap we find that inelastic losses are too great for cooling to be feasible for this system. The ac and microwave traps confine ground-state molecules, and so inelastic losses are suppressed. However, collisions in the ac trap can take molecules from stable trajectories to unstable ones and so sympathetic cooling is accompanied by trap loss. In the microwave trap there are no such losses and sympathetic cooling should be possible.     

Experimental investigation on trap stagnant effect and sand flux in aeolian sand transport

A new isokinetic vertical sand trap is designed in this work, and the new trap has an advantage that airflows in all sampling tubes at different height can simultaneously approach the isokinetic state. The stagnant effect and vertical sand mass flux are experimentally investigated in a wind tunnel. Compared with the traditional passive sand trap, the new design greatly reduces the stagnant effect, and has higher efficiency at different heights and wind speeds. The results obtained in this Letter also show the stagnant effect of the sand trap not only changes the total efficiency of the sand collection, but also the distribution of the vertical sand flux. The new isokinetic sand trap has good performance and can be applied to study the sand flux in aeolian sand transport.     

Parametric resonance and cooling on an atom chip

This paper observes the parametric excitation on atom chip by measuring the trap loss when applying a parametric modulation. By modulating the current in chip wires, it modulates not only the trap frequency but also the trap position. It shows that the strongest resonance occurs when the modulation frequency equals to the trap frequency. The resonance amplitude increases exponentially with modulation depth. Because the Z-trap is an anharmonic trap, there exists energy selective excitation which would cause parametric cooling. We confirm this effect by observing the temperature of atom cloud dropping.     

Experiments to study the confinement of a target plasma in a magnetic trap with inverse plugs and circular multipole walls

In order to neutralize beams of high-energy negative ions, it is convenient to use a plasma target. It is necessary to confine a target plasma within a magnetic trap. It is of importance to restrict the escape of a plasma from the inlet and outlet holes in the target. It is proposed to confine a target plasma in a magnetic trap with a weak longitudinal field with circular multipole walls and with inverse plugs (with an inverse field). Experiments in which a plasma is confined in an axisymmetric trap of this type with one double inverse plug, which restricts longitudinal plasma outflow, are described. A cathode pellet emitting accelerated electrons for plasma production by gas ionization is installed at the opposite end face of the trap on the axis. The experiment shows that inverse plugs suppress strongly the plasma outflow into the end-face hole. The mechanism of this suppression is revealed. It is found that electrons are confined within a trap predominantly by magnetic fields.     

基于磁悬浮大体积交叉光学偶极阱的Dimple光阱装载研究

三维拉曼边带冷却后的铯原子样品装载于一个磁悬浮的大体积交叉光学偶极阱中, 继续加载一个小体积的光学偶极阱后, 实现了Dimple光学偶极阱对铯原子的高效装载. 对不同磁场下磁悬浮大体积光阱的有效装载势能进行理论分析与实验测量, 得出最优化的梯度磁场和均匀偏置磁场, 获得了基于磁悬浮大体积光阱的Dimple光学偶极阱的装载势能曲线, 实现了Dimple光学偶极阱对经拉曼边带冷却后俘获在磁悬浮的大体积光阱中的铯原子样品的有效装载. 比较了Dimple光学偶极阱分别从拉曼边带冷却、大体积的交叉光阱和消除反俘获势后的磁悬浮大体积光阱装载的结果, 将俘获在磁悬浮大体积光阱中的铯原子样品装载到Dimple光学偶极阱, 铯原子样品的密度提高了约15倍.     

Towards surface quantum optics with Bose–Einstein condensates in evanescent waves

We present a surface trap which enables the study of coherent interactions between ultracold atoms and evanescent waves. The trap combines a magnetic Joffe trap with a repulsive evanescent dipole potential. Exploiting the advantages of both approaches this technique improves recent surfaces traps, which are based either on magnetic or optical traps alone. On the one hand, the position of the magnetic trap can be controlled with high precision which makes it possible to move ultracold atoms to the surface of a glass prism or to withdraw the atoms from the surface in a controlled way. On the other hand, the optical potential of the evanescent wave partially compensates for strong attractive surface forces and generates a potential barrier at only a few hundred nanometers from the surface. This barrier prevents the surface potentials from limiting the trap depth of the magnetic trap. The surface trap is probed with ⁸⁷Rb Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs), which are stably positioned at distances from the surfaces below one micrometer.     

Optimization of parameters of a surface-electrode ion trap and experimental study of influences of surface on ion lifetime

In this paper we report the optimal design and fabrication of a gold-on-silica linear segmented surface-electrode ion trap. By optimizing the thickness and width of the electrodes, we improved the trapping ability and trap scalability. By using some practical experimental operation methods, we successfully minimized the trap heating rate. Consequently, we could trap a string of up to 38 ions, and a zigzag structure with 24 ions, and transport two trapped ions to different zones. We also studied the influences of the ion chip surface on the ion lifetime. The excellent trapping ability and flexibility of operation of the planar ion trap shows that it has high feasibility for application in the development a practical quantum information processor or quantum simulator.     

Focusing properties of concentric piecewise cylindrical vector beam

The focusing properties of a concentric piecewise cylindrical vector beam is investigated theoretically in this paper. The beam consists of three portions with different and changeable phase retardation and polarization. Numerical simulations show that the evolution of the focal shape is very considerable by changing the radius and polarization rotation angle of each portion of the vector beam. And some interesting focal spots may occur, such as two- or three-peak focus, dark hollow focus, ring focus, and two-ring-peak focus. Corresponding gradient force patterns are also computed, and novel trap patterns, including cup shell shape trap with one trap at its each side along axis, rectangle shell shape trap with one trap at its each side, dumbbell optical trap, spherical shell optical trap, may occur, which shows that the concentric piecewise cylindrical vector beam can be used to construct controllable optical tweezers.