Detecting magnetically guided atoms with an optical cavity

We show that a low-finesse cavity can be efficient for detecting neutral atoms. The low finesse can be compensated for by decreasing the mode waist of the cavity. We have used a near-concentric resonator with a beam waist of 12 microm and a finesse of only 1100 to detect magnetically guided Rb atoms with a detection sensitivity of 0.1 atom in the mode volume. For future experiments on single-atom detection and cavity QED applications, it should be beneficial to use miniaturized optical resonators integrated on atom chips.     

Micromanipulation of neutral atoms with nanofabricated structures

A large variety of trapping and guiding potentials can be designed by bringing cold atoms close to charged or current carrying material objects. We describe the basic principles of constructing microscopic traps and guides and how to load atoms into them. The simplicity and versatility of these methods will allow for miniaturization and integration of atom optical elements into matter-wave quantum circuits on Atom Chips. These could form the basis for robust and widespread applications in atom optics, ranging from fundamental studies in mesoscopic physics to possibly quantum information systems. Received: 20 December 1999 / Revised version: 7 March 2000 / Published online: 5 April 2000     

High-frequency guided ultrasonic waves for hidden defect detection in multi-layered aircraft structures

Aerospace structures often contain multi-layered metallic components where hidden defects such as fatigue cracks and localized disbonds can develop, necessitating non-destructive testing. Employing standard wedge transducers, high frequency guided ultrasonic waves that penetrate through the complete thickness were generated in a model structure consisting of two adhesively bonded aluminium plates. Interference occurs between the wave modes during propagation along the structure, resulting in a frequency dependent variation of the energy through the thickness with distance. The wave propagation along the specimen was measured experimentally using a laser interferometer. Good agreement with theoretical predictions and two-dimensional finite element simulations was found. Significant propagation distance with a strong, non-dispersive main wave pulse was achieved. The interaction of the high frequency guided ultrasonic waves with small notches in the aluminium layer facing the sealant and on the bottom surface of the multilayer structure was investigated. Standard pulse-echo measurements were conducted to verify the detection sensitivity and the influence of the stand-off distance predicted from the finite element simulations. The results demonstrated the potential of high frequency guided waves for hidden defect detection at critical and difficult to access locations in aerospace structures from a stand-off distance.     

TM-polarized nonlinear waves guided by asymmetric dielectric layered structures

We found the field structure, exact dispersion relations and power flow ofp-polarized nonlinear guided and surface waves travelling along a three-component layered structure consisting of a film of thicknessd with dielectric constant _b bounded at the negativez-side by a linear medium with dielectric constant _a and at the positivez-side by a nonlinear uniaxial substrate characterized by the diagonal dielectric tensor ₁₁ = ₂₂ = + (|E ₁|² + |E ₂|²), ₃₃ = , <0 (self-defocusing medium),E ₁ andE ₂ being the components of the electric field in thex andy-direction, respectively. It is shown that for sufficiently smalld/ (: wavelength) the nonlinear wave may exist only at power flows exceeding some certain minimum values. For sufficiently larged/ to some values of the power flow there correspond two distinct values of the propagation constant. In this case with increasing of the power flow the number of waveguide modes is decreasing and for higher-order modes the film-waveguide exhibits an optical-power limiter from the above behaviour.     

Localized positronium atoms in porous structures studied by 2D-ACAR

The localization of positronium (Ps) atoms was studied by measurements of two-dimensional angular correlation of positron annihilation radiation (2D-ACAR) for porous glasses. Annihilations of positron-electron pairs with a large anisotropy were found in 2D-ACAR spectra. This fact can be attributed to the momentum uncertainty due to the localization of Ps in a finite dimension of pores. The present investigation showed the possibility of the detection of microstructures in amorphous materials by the 2D-ACAR technique.     

Domain-wall guided nucleation of superconductivity in hybrid ferromagnet-superconductor-ferromagnet layered structures

Domain-wall superconductivity is studied in a superconducting Nb film placed between two ferromagnetic Co/Pd multilayers with perpendicular magnetization. The parameters of top and bottom ferromagnetic films are chosen to provide different coercive fields, so that the magnetic domain structure of the ferromagnets can be selectively controlled. From the dependence of the critical temperature Tc on the applied magnetic field H, we have found evidence for domain-wall superconductivity in this three-layered F/S/F structure for different magnetic domain patterns. The phase boundary, calculated numerically for this structure from the linearized Ginzburg-Landau equation, is in good agreement with the experimental data.     

The scattering of guided waves in partly embedded cylindrical structures

The scattering of ultrasonic guided waves at a point where a free cylindrical waveguide enters an embedding material is investigated. A modal solution that is valid when the guided waves are incident from the free section of the waveguide is developed. It is shown that in this case it is valid to consider only the modal fields over the cross section of the waveguide, neglecting the fields in the embedding material. As an application, the scattering of the lowest-order longitudinal mode in a cylindrical waveguide, L(0,1), is examined in detail. As well as considering epoxy resin as an embedding material, the case where the embedding material is replaced by a perfectly rigid boundary is discussed. The latter gives some insight into the role of nonpropagating and inhomogeneous waveguide modes in the scattering process. The results from the modal solution are validated using Finite Element modeling, very good agreement being obtained.     

Entangling strings of neutral atoms in 1D atomic pipeline structures

We study a string of neutral atoms with nearest neighbor interaction in a 1D beam splitter configuration, where the longitudinal motion is controlled by a moving optical lattice potential. The dynamics of the atoms crossing the beam splitter maps to a 1D spin model with controllable time dependent parameters, which allows the creation of maximally entangled states of atoms by crossing a quantum phase transition. Furthermore, we show that this system realizes protected quantum memory, and we discuss the implementation of one- and two-qubit gates in this setup.     

Quantum tweezer for atoms

We propose a quantum tweezer for extracting a desired number of neutral atoms from a reservoir. A trapped Bose-Einstein condensate is used as the reservoir, taking advantage of its coherent nature, which can guarantee a constant outcome. The tweezer is an attractive quantum dot, which may be generated by red-detuned laser light. By moving at certain speeds, the dot can extract a desired number of atoms from the condensate through Landau-Zener tunneling. The feasibility of our quantum tweezer is demonstrated through realistic and extensive model calculations.     

Reflection-type hologram for atoms

A cold metastable neon atomic beam was manipulated with a reflective amplitude hologram that was encoded on a silicon surface. A black-and-white pattern of atoms was reconstructed on a microchannel plate detector. The hologram used the enhanced quantum reflection developed by authors and was made of a two-dimensional array of rectangular low and high reflective cells. The surface of the high reflective cell was composed of regularly spaced roof-shaped ridges, while the low reflective cell was simply a flat surface. The hologram was the first demonstration of reflective atom-optical elements that used universal interaction between a neutral atom and solid surface.     

Asymptotics for Bosonic atoms

It was proved by Benguria and Lieb that for an atom where the electrons do not satisfy the exclusion principle, the critical electron number N _c, i.e., the maximal number of electrons the atom can bind, satisfies lim inf_zN_c/Z 1 + , where Z is the nuclear charge. Here is a positive constant derived from the Hartree model. We complete this result by proving that the correct asymptotics for N _c(Z) is indeed _zN_c/Z = 1 + .This work was done while the author was a graduate student at Princeton University supported by a Danish Research Academy fellowship and U.S. National Science Foundation grant PHY-85-15288-A03.     

Optical billiards for atoms

One of the central paradigms for classical and quantum chaos in conservative systems is the two-dimensional billiard in which particles are confined to a closed region in the plane, undergoing elastic collisions with the walls and free motion in between. We report the first realization of billiards using ultracold atoms bouncing off beams of light. These beams create the desired spatial pattern, forming an "optical billiard." We find excellent agreement between theory and our experimental demonstration of chaotic and stable motion in optical billiards, establishing a new testing ground for classical and quantum chaos.     

Measurement of the dispersion relation of guided non-axisymmetric waves in filament-wound cylindrical structures

To determine the dispersion relation, guided waves are excited in specimens over a broad frequency range. The surface displacements are measured over time and space. The recorded data are analysed using a quasi-three-dimensional spectrum estimation algorithm. In the time domain a fast Fourier transform is used to extract the frequencies. To obtain the wave numbers, in space a two-dimensional matrix-pencil approach is applied to the data set. Using a suitable constitutive model (transversely isotropic or orthotropic) dispersion curves are calculated. Good agreement was found between the experimental and the numerically calculated dispersion relations after adjusting the material parameters. Since the dispersion relation of a structure depends on the mechanical material properties frequency-dependent material parameters can be extracted from the above-mentioned relation between frequency and wave number.     

Localization of optical pulses in guided wave structures with only fourth order dispersion

Inspired by the recent realization of pure-quartic solitons (Blanco-Redondo et al. (2016) [1]), in the present work we study the localization of optical pulses in a similar system, i.e., a silicon photonic crystal air-suspended structure with a hexagonal lattice. The propagation of ultrashort pulses in such a system is well described by a generalized nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation, which in certain conditions works with near-zero group-velocity dispersion and third order dispersion. In this case, the NLS equation has only the fourth order dispersion term. In the present model, we introduce a quasiperiodic linear coefficient that is responsible to induce the localization. The existence of Anderson localization has been confirmed by numerical simulations even when the system presents a small defocusing nonlinearity.     

Physics of propagation in left-handed guided wave structures at microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies

A microstrip configuration is loaded with a left-handed medium substrate and studied regarding its dispersion diagrams over the microwave and millimeter-wave frequency bands for a number of different modal solutions. Ab initio calculations are accomplished self-consistently with a computer code using a full-wave integral equation numerical method based upon a Green's function employing appropriate boundary conditions. Bands of both propagating and evanescent behavior are discovered in some of the modes. Electromagnetic field plots in the cross-sectional dimension are made. New electric field line and magnetic circulation patterns are discovered.     

Calculation of nonlinear modes guided by multilayer dielectric structures using the resonance technique

A simple and easily programmable approach based on the resonance method has been developed for analysing optical waves guided by complicated configurations such as multilayer dielectric structures with arbitrary nonlinear media. In this formulation both TE and TM polarizations are considered. In the present paper, as an example of the resonance technique application, the five-layer waveguiding configuration, including two arbitrary nonlinear media along with a linear film of arbitrary profile, is treated. Numerical results are presented in the form of guided power versus propagation constant for various parameters of the problem.