Waveguide atom beam splitter for laser-cooled neutral atoms

A laser-cooled neutral-atom beam from a low-velocity intense source is split into two beams while it is guided by a magnetic-field potential. We generate our multimode beam-splitter potential with two current-carrying wires upon a glass substrate combined with an external transverse bias field. The atoms are guided around curves and a beam-splitter region within a 10-cm guide length. We achieve a maximum integrated flux of 1.5x10(5)atoms/s with a current density of 5x10(4)amp/cm (2) in the 100-microm -diameter wires. The initial beam can be split into two beams with a 50/50 splitting ratio.     

Realization of a superconducting atom chip

We have trapped rubidium atoms in the magnetic field produced by a superconducting atom chip operated at liquid helium temperatures. Up to 8.2x10(5) atoms are held in a Ioffe-Pritchard trap at a distance of 440 microm from the chip surface, with a temperature of 40 microK. The trap lifetime reaches 115 s at low atomic densities. These results open the way to the exploration of atom-surface interactions and coherent atomic transport in a superconducting environment, whose properties are radically different from normal metals at room temperature.     

3D raman sideband cooling of cesium atoms at high density

We laser cool 5x10(7) Cs atoms to a spin-polarized phase space density of 1/30, the highest ever obtained by laser cooling. It is achieved by compression and polarization gradient cooling in a 3D far-off-resonant optical lattice, followed by 3D Raman sideband cooling optimized at a density of 1.5x10(12) atoms/cm(3), and adiabatic release. In the lattice, 23% of the sites are occupied, 95% of the atoms are in the lowest energy magnetic sublevel, and 37% are in the lowest 3D vibrational state.     

Beyond optical molasses: 3D raman sideband cooling of atomic cesium to high phase-space density

We demonstrate a simple, general purpose method to cool neutral atoms. A sample containing 3x10(8) cesium atoms prepared in a magneto-optical trap is cooled and simultaneously spin polarized in 10 ms at a density of 1.1x10(11) cm (-3) to a phase space density nlambda(3)(dB) = 1/500, which is almost 3 orders of magnitude higher than attainable in free space with optical molasses. The technique is based on 3D degenerate Raman sideband cooling in optical lattices and remains efficient even at densities where the mean lattice site occupation is close to unity.     

Enhanced cold mercury atom production with two-dimensional magneto-optical trap

A cold atom source is important for quantum metrology and precision measurement. To reduce the quantum projection noise limit in optical lattice clock, one can increase the number of cold atoms and reduce the dead time by enhancing the loading rate. In this work, we realize an enhanced cold mercury atom source based on a two-dimensional (2D) magneto-optical trap (MOT). The vacuum system is composed of two titanium chambers connected with a differential pumping tube. Two stable cooling laser systems are adopted for the 2D-MOT and the three-dimensional (3D)-MOT, respectively. Using an optimized 2D-MOT and push beam, about 1.3×10⁶ atoms, which are almost an order of magnitude higher than using a pure 3D-MOT, are loaded into the 3D-MOT for ²⁰²Hg atoms. This enhanced cold mercury atom source is helpful in increasing the frequency stability of a neutral mercury lattice clock.     

Multi-GeV energy gain in a plasma-wakefield accelerator

A plasma-wakefield accelerator has accelerated particles by over 2.7 GeV in a 10 cm long plasma module. A 28.5 GeV electron beam with 1.8 x 10(10) electrons is compressed to 20 microm longitudinally and focused to a transverse spot size of 10 microm at the entrance of a 10 cm long column of lithium vapor with density 2.8 x 10(17) atoms/cm3. The electron bunch fully ionizes the lithium vapor to create a plasma and then expels the plasma electrons. These electrons return one-half plasma period later driving a large amplitude plasma wake that in turn accelerates particles in the back of the bunch by more than 2.7 GeV.     

Probing the quantum state of a guided atom laser pulse

We describe bichromatic superradiant pump-probe spectroscopy as a tomographic probe of the Wigner function of a dispersing particle beam. We employed this technique to characterize the quantum state of an ultracold atomic beam, derived from a 87Rb Bose-Einstein condensate, as it propagated in a 2.5 mm diameter circular waveguide. Our measurements place an upper bound on the longitudinal phase space area occupied by the 3 x 10(5) atom beam of 9(1)Planck's constant and a lower bound on the coherence length of L>or=13(1) microm. These results are consistent with full quantum degeneracy after multiple orbits around the waveguide.     

Observation of atom wave phase shifts induced by van der Waals atom-surface interactions

The development of nanotechnology and atom optics relies on understanding how atoms behave and interact with their environment. Isolated atoms can exhibit wavelike (coherent) behavior with a corresponding de Broglie wavelength and phase which can be affected by nearby surfaces. Here an atom interferometer is used to measure the phase shift of Na atom waves induced by the walls of a 50 nm wide cavity. To our knowledge this is the first direct measurement of the de Broglie wave phase shift caused by atom-surface interactions. The magnitude of the phase shift is in agreement with that predicted by Lifshitz theory for a nonretarded van der Waals interaction. This experiment also demonstrates that atom waves can retain their coherence even when atom-surface distances are as small as 10 nm.     

六方MoN的合成新路线

 在高温高压极端条件下利用CH₄Cl还原二氧化钼的方法合成了六方MoN。反应条件为：压力2 GPa,温度1 500 ℃,时间2 h。并利用XRD对合成产物进行了表征。经最小二乘法拟合后结果表明,该合成产物具有六方结构对称性,其晶格常数为a＝0.572 nm,c＝0.560 nm。经过对其衍射峰位和峰强进行拟合计算,并与实验结果进行比较, 结果表明 MoN 产物的空间群为P6₃/mmc,其中Mo原子位于2b (0, 0, 1/4)和6h (x, 2x, 1/4),x＝0.489。N原子位于2a (0, 0, 0)和6g (0.5, 0, 0)。所采用的方法具有反应条件易达到、反应时间短、反应产物单相性好等特点。     

Fe-Si-Al合金结构的研究

本文叙述了利用电子显微镜对含10％Si和5％Al的Fe-Si-Al高导磁合金薄膜进行的结构研究。发现了基体为有序面心立方Fe₃(Al,Si)结构,其晶格参数为5.70±0.03?,该值在Fe₃Si和Fe₃Al晶格参数之间,说明部分Si原子为Al原子所置换。并获得三套基体和析出相合成的电子衍射图,相应确定了基体和析出相的取向关系:(001)_基‖(110)_相;[100]_基‖[00I]_相;[010]_基‖[I10]_相。对析出相的萃取碳复型,在电子显微镜中进行选区衍射,获得了立方Fe₃(Al,Si)C_x相的结构。提出:Fe原子占据面心;Al或Si原子占据顶角;C原子占据体心的看法。 关键词：     

Atomic interferometer with amplitude gratings of light and its applications to atom based tests of the equivalence principle

We have developed a matter wave interferometer based on the diffraction of atoms from effective absorption gratings of light. In a setup with cold rubidium atoms in an atomic fountain the interferometer has been used to carry out tests of the equivalence principle on an atomic basis. The gravitational acceleration of the two isotopes 85Rb and 87Rb was compared, yielding a difference Deltag/g=(1.2+/-1.7)x10(-7). We also perform a differential free fall measurement of atoms in two different hyperfine states, and obtained a result of Deltag/g=(0.4+/-1.2)x10(-7).     

一维双原子链中杂质引起的局域振动模

对含杂质的一维双原子链,在链中所有原子之间近邻相互作用力常数均相等的情况下,数值求解晶格振动的运动方程组,得到不同局域振动模的振动图像和产生条件,给出了局域模关于杂质原子质量和原胞中两种晶格原子质量比分布的相图．     

Experiments with a high-density positronium gas

We have created a high-density gas of interacting positronium (Ps) atoms by irradiating a thin film of nanoporous silica with intense positron bursts and measured the Ps lifetime using a new single-shot technique. When the positrons were compressed to 3.3 x 10(10) cm-2, the apparent intensity of the orthopositronium lifetime component was found to decrease by 33%. We believe this is due to a combination of spin exchange quenching and PS2 molecule formation associated with colliding pairs of oppositely polarized triplet positronium atoms. Our data imply an effective cross section for this process of 2.9 x 10(-14) cm-2.     

Theory of solute clustering in materials for atom probe

Pseudo-binary solute clustering in crystals was modelled analytically using expressions for the site-occupation probabilities that depend on solute concentration, crystallography and nearest-neighbour short-range order. Up to a cluster-size of 10 solute atoms, theoretical random and non-random cluster-size distributions were calculated for diamond (Si), simple (Mn), body centred (Fe) and face centred (Al) cubic lattices and the hexagonal close-packed (Mg) lattice. These calculations were then used to generate simulations of atom probe data, by stochastically removing atoms to simulate the effect of detector efficiency. These simulations may be used to determine self-consistent clustering algorithm parameters, measure short range order parameters and recover the effect of detector efficiency on the observed frequency distributions.     

State selective production of molecules in optical lattices

We demonstrate quantum control over both internal and external quantum degrees of freedom in a high number of identical "chemical reactions," carried out in an array of microtraps in a 3D optical lattice. Starting from a Mott insulating phase of an ultracold atomic quantum gas, we use two-photon Raman transitions to create molecules on lattice sites occupied by two atoms. In the atom-molecule conversion process, we can control both the internal rovibronic and external center of mass quantum state of the molecules. The lattice isolates the microscopic chemical reactions from each other, thereby allowing photoassociation spectra without collisional broadening even at high densities of up to 2 x 10(15) cm(-3).     

四元Heusler合金NiMnFeGa中Fe原子的磁性贡献

用熔炼和甩带的方法制备了组分为Ni₅₀Fe_xMn_25-xGa ₂₅(x=0—25) 的系列样品.x射线衍射实验结果表明，当Fe取代Mn的含量x＜17时，用熔炼和甩带的方法均 能合成高度有序的L2₁结构的Heusler相.而当x＞17时，普通熔炼方法只能得到 低有序度的 γ相，只有采用甩带急冷的方法才能获得高度有序的纯L2₁结构的化合物.根据 交流磁化率 和分子磁矩的测试结果，初步分析了Fe原子对化合物磁性的贡献，认为Fe原子占据了Mn原子 的位置后，具有高于一般含铁合金的原子磁矩，可达2.55—3.55μ_B. 关键词： Heusler合金 50Fe_xMn_25-xGa_{25')" href="#">Ni50FexMn25-xGa25}     

Enhancement of phase space density by increasing trap anisotropy in a magneto-optical trap with a large number of atoms

The phase space density of dense, cylindrical clouds of atoms in a 2D magneto-optic trap is investigated. For a large number of trapped atoms (>10(8)), the density of a spherical cloud is limited by photon reabsorption. However, as the atom cloud is deformed to reduce the radial optical density, the temperature of the atoms decreases due to the suppression of multiple scattering leading to an increase in the phase space density. A density of 2 x 10(-4) has been achieved in a magneto-optic trap containing 2 x 10(8) atoms.     

Persistent supercurrent atom chip

Rubidium-87 atoms are trapped in an Ioffe-Pritchard potential generated with a persistent supercurrent that flows in a loop circuit patterned on a sapphire surface. The superconducting circuit is a closed loop made of a 100 microm wide molecular-beam epitaxy-grown MgB2 stripe carrying a supercurrent of 2.5 A. To control the supercurrent in the stripe, an on-chip thermal switch operated by a focused argon-ion laser is developed. The switch operates as an on/off switch of the supercurrent or as a device to set the current to a specific value with the aid of an external magnetic field. The current can be set even without an external source if the change is in the decreasing direction.     

Determination of the newtonian gravitational constant using atom interferometry

We present a new measurement of the Newtonian gravitational constant G based on cold-atom interferometry. Freely falling samples of laser-cooled rubidium atoms are used in a gravity gradiometer to probe the field generated by nearby source masses. In addition to its potential sensitivity, this method is intriguing as gravity is explored by a quantum system. We report a value of G = 6.667 x 10(-11) m(3) kg(-1) s(-2), estimating a statistical uncertainty of +/-0.011 x 10(-11) m(3) kg(-1) s(-2) and a systematic uncertainty of +/-0.003 x 10(-11) m(3) kg(-1) s(-2). The long-term stability of the instrument and the signal-to-noise ratio demonstrated here open interesting perspectives for pushing the measurement accuracy below the 100 ppm level.     

Diffraction of a Bose-Einstein condensate from a magnetic lattice on a microchip

We experimentally study the diffraction of a Bose-Einstein condensate from a magnetic lattice, realized by a set of 372 parallel gold conductors which are microfabricated on a silicon substrate. The conductors generate a periodic potential for the atoms with a lattice constant of 4 microm. After exposing the condensate to the lattice for several milliseconds we observe diffraction up to fifth order by standard time of flight imaging techniques. The experimental data can be quantitatively interpreted with a simple phase imprinting model. The demonstrated diffraction grating offers promising perspectives for the construction of an integrated atom interferometer.