Coherence properties and quantum state transportation in an optical conveyor belt

We have prepared and detected quantum coherences of trapped cesium atoms with long dephasing times. Controlled transport by an "optical conveyor belt" over macroscopic distances preserves the atomic coherence with slight reduction of coherence time. The limiting dephasing effects are experimentally identified, and we present an analytical model of the reversible and irreversible dephasing mechanisms. Our experimental methods are applicable at the single-atom level. Coherent quantum bit operations along with quantum state transport open the route towards a "quantum shift register" of individual neutral atoms.     

Controlling double-cavity optical switching in a K-type multilevel system including spontaneously generated coherence

A composite system consisting of a K-type atomic medium and a double optical cavity configuration is considered to study the phenomenon of atomic optical bistability (AOB) in the mean field approximation. The controllability of this phenomenon achieved by additional electromagnetic fields not circulating in the cavities is studied. Also, the effect of spontaneously generated coherence due to the quantum interference in decaying nearby levels on the multi-branched AOB is discussed. The system displays a new class of bifurcations.     

全场光学相干层析成像系统的研制

研制了一套采用旋转1/2波片无色散移相器进行移相操作的全场光学相干层析成像系统.该移相器能在宽光谱范围内无色散地获得8倍于1/2波片旋转角的移相量,能快速、方便地为各种移相算法提供所需的移相量.移相量实测结果表明：系统获得了8倍旋转角的移相量,提出的移相器结构正确.采用Hariharan移相算法对反射镜样品进行的成像实验表明系统具有较高的移相精度.最后进行的实物样品成像实验,检验了系统的有效性. 关键词： 全场光学相干层析成像 无色散移相器 旋转1/2波片     

Real-time phase-resolved functional optical coherence tomography by use of optical Hilbert transformation

We have developed a novel real-time phase-resolved functional optical coherence tomography system that uses optical Hilbert transformation. When we use a resonant scanner in the reference arm of the interferometer, with an axial scanning speed of 4 kHz, the frame rate of both structural and Doppler blood-flow imaging with a size of 100 by 100 pixels is 10 Hz. The system has high sensitivity and a larger dynamic range for measuring the Doppler frequency shift that is due to moving red blood cells. Real-time images of in vivo blood flow in human skin obtained with this interferometer are presented.     

Controlling the optical bistability via quantum interference in a four-level N-type atomic system

We investigate the optical bistability (OB) and optical multi-stability (OM) in a four-level N-type atomic system. The effect of spontaneously generated coherence (SGC) on OB and OM is then discussed. It is found that SGC makes the medium phase dependent, so the optical bistability and multi-stability threshold can be controlled via relative phase between applied fields. We realize that the frequency detuning of probe and coupling fields with the corresponding atomic transition plays an important role in creation OB and OM. Moreover, the effect of laser coupling fields and an incoherent pumping field on reduction of OB and OM threshold is then discussed.     

Optical multistability in three-level atoms inside an optical ring cavity

Optical multistability in an optical ring cavity filled with a collection of three-level Lambda-type rubidium atoms has been experimentally demonstrated. The observed multistability is very sensitive to the induced atomic coherence in the system and can evolve from a normal bistable behavior with the change of the coupling field as well as the atomic number density. The underlying mechanism for the formation of such multistability is also discussed.     

Spectral intensity characteristics of partially coherent flattened multi-Gaussian beams with an axial shadow passing though paraxial ABCD optical systems

Based on the beam model for the flattened multi-Gaussian beams (FMGBs) with an axial shadow and partially coherent theory, the expression for cross-spectral density of partially coherent FMGBs with an axial shadow has been given, and the analytical expression for the spectral intensity of partially coherent FMGBs with an axial shadow passing through paraxial ABCD optical systems has been derived. The spectral shift of partially coherent FMGBs with an axial shadow focused by a thin lens has been analyzed quantitatively. The effects of the beam profile, spatial coherence parameter and the system parameters on the relative spectral shift have been discussed in detail. Our results show that the spectral intensity and the spectral shift of partially coherent FMGBs with an axial shadow passing through paraxial ABCD optical systems depend on the source spectral density, the generalized Fresnel number of the system, the transverse coordinate, the spatially coherence parameter, as well as the beam orders.     

Controlling light by light with three-level atoms inside an optical cavity

We present our experimental demonstration of controlling the cavity output intensity of one laser beam with the intensity of another laser beam in a composite system consisting of a collection of three-level ?-type rubidium atoms and an optical ring cavity. When the intensity of the controlling beam is modulated with a square waveform, the cavity output power switches on and off (with a distinction ratio better than 20:1) between two steady-state values. This all-optical switching effect is the result of combined absorption and enhanced Kerr nonlinearity near resonance in such three-level atomic systems because of atomic coherence and can find applications in optical communication and optical computation.     

Storage and retrieval of coherent optical information in atomic populations

We propose a simple and powerful protocol to map an arbitrary atomic coherence between two quantum states into a population distribution of three metastable states, and later to retrieve the atomic coherence from the population distribution. The protocol applies simple sequences of radiation pulses with arbitrary temporal profile, either as coincident or as consecutive pulses. Mapping of rather short-lived atomic coherences into very long-lived atomic populations permits the prolongation of storage times (e.g. of optical information encoded in atomic coherences) by many orders of magnitude — without the need for complicated techniques to reduce homogeneous broadenings.     

Nonlinear optical responses due to exciton-phonon interactions in strongly coupled exciton-phonon systems

The excitonic nonlinear optical responses due to exciton-phonon interactions in strongly coupled exciton-phonon systems are investigated theoretically. It is shown that the influence of exciton-phonon interactions on the nonlinear optical absorptions and Kerr nonlinear coefficients is significant as the signal field frequency detuning from the exciton frequency approaches to the optical phonon frequency. How to manipulate the nonlinear optical responses by using the control fields is also presented.Received: 16 March 2004, Published online: 4 May 2004PACS: 42.50.Gy Effects of atomic coherence on propagation, absorption, and amplification of light; electromagnetically induced transparency and absorption - 42.50.Hz Strong-field excitation of optical transitions in quantum systems; multiphoton processes; dynamic Stark shift - 42.25.Bs Wave propagation, transmission and absorption - 72.80.Le Polymers; organic compounds (including organic semiconductors)     

光晶格中超冷原子系统的磁激发

囚禁在光学晶格中的旋量凝聚体由于其长的相干性和可调控性,使其成为时下热点的多比特量子计算的潜在候选载体,清楚地了解该体系的自旋和磁性的产生和调控就显得尤为重要.本文主要从理论上回顾了光晶格原子自旋链的磁性的由来和操控手段.从激光冷却原子出发,制备旋量玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体,并装载进光晶格,最后实现原子自旋链,对整个过程的理论研究进行了综述;就如何产生和操控自旋激发进行了详细探讨,其中包括磁孤子的制备;讨论了如何将原子自旋链应用于量子模拟.对光学晶格中的磁激发研究将会对其在冷原子物理、凝聚态物理、量子信息等各方向的应用起指导性作用.     

Chaos in an electromagnetically induced transparent medium inside an optical cavity

We theoretically predict and experimentally demonstrate chaotic behaviors in a system comprising of three-level atoms inside an optical ring cavity. This electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) system is driven to chaos through period-doubling route by reducing the frequency detuning of the coupling laser beam. The chaos occurs in a different parametric regime as previously predicted and is believed to be caused by the enhanced dispersion and nonlinearity due to induced atomic coherence in such EIT system.     

Four-wave mixing of optical and microwave fields

We demonstrate degenerate four-wave mixing involving both optical and microwave fields. This four-wave mixing process, with fields that differ in frequency by 5 orders of magnitude, results from stimulated Raman scattering of the optical field from an atomic ground-state Zeeman coherence in warm rubidium vapor, which is induced and maintained by the microwave field.     

The coherence and spectra of a Bose condensate generated by an atomic laser

The first-order coherence dynamics of a Bose condensate generated by a cw atomic laser with evaporative cooling is analyzed. For the atomic-laser multimode model, the coherence functions and atomic field spectra are calculated by the master equation technique. Elastic collisions in the trapped atomic gas lead to significant broadening of the atomic laser line, a shift of its center, and a multi peak structure of the spectra. The oscillatory time dynamics of the atomic-field coherence function is studied. For the atomic laser, the free phase diffusion of the field typical of optical lasers, and characterized by monotonically decreasing mean field with a constant mean phase, is absent due to elastic collisions.     

Dynamical switching and memory via incoherent pump assisted optical bistability

We analyze the dynamical behavior of all-optical switching and memory based on tunable optical bistability in a three-level Λ-type atomic system driven by a probe field circulating in an optical ring cavity, a coherent coupling field and an incoherent pump field outside cavity. Owing to the incoherent pump process, the absorption and Kerr nonlinearity near the atomic resonance change dramatically as a result of varied population distribution and atomic coherence, and then the switch-up and switch-down thresholds, as well as the width (or area) of bistable curve, can be manipulated effectively. By tuning the intensity of either coherent coupling field or incoherent pump field, we can make the system output flip between the lower and upper branches of different bistable hysteresis loops while the cavity input keeps to a constant value. Accordingly, all-optical switching and memory can be implemented via dynamical control of the bistable behavior under the assistance of incoherent pump. The proposed scheme can find potential applications in all-optical communication and computation.     

Doppler optical coherence tomography with a micro-electro-mechanical membrane mirror for high-speed dynamic focus tracking

An elliptical microelectromechanical system (MEMS) membrane mirror is electrostatically actuated to dynamically adjust the optical beam focus and track the axial scanning of the coherence gate in a Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT) system at 8 kHz. The MEMS mirror is designed to maintain a constant numerical aperture of approximately 0.13 and a spot size of approximately 6.7 microm over an imaging depth of 1mm in water, which improves imaging performance in resolving microspheres in gel samples and Doppler shift estimation precision in a flow phantom. The mirror's small size (1.4 mm x 1 mm) will allow integration with endoscopic MEMS-DOCT for in vivo applications.     

包含三能级原子环形腔的动态非稳与混沌过渡

在包含三能级原子的环形腔的输出光场中，观察到了由电磁感应透明（EIT）效应导致的动态非稳及混沌．该动态非稳及向混沌的过渡可以通过耦合光场而加以很好地控制．同时，由三能级EIT导致的原子相干改变了系统的吸收、色散及非线性效应，从而极大地增强了系统的动态非稳和混沌过渡特性．建立了一个理论模型来定量地解释观察到的现象．     

Mesoscopic quantum coherence in an optical lattice

We observe the quantum coherent dynamics of atomic spinor wave packets in the double-well potentials of a far-off-resonance optical lattice. With appropriate initial conditions the system Rabi oscillates between the left and right localized states of the ground doublet, and at certain times the wave packet corresponds to a coherent superposition of these mesoscopically distinct quantum states. The atom/optical double-well potential is a flexible and powerful system for further study of quantum coherence, quantum control, and the quantum/classical transition.     

Effect of optical feedback on a VCSEL TDLAS

This paper describes the effects of optical feedback on the sensitivity of VCSEL tunable-diode laser spectroscopy (TDLS). Three VCSELs, emitting at different wavelengths in the near-infrared, were used. A TDLS system, subjected to optical feedback, exhibited a common signal-to-noise ratio profile for all three lasers. A catastrophic degradation of TDLS sensitivity occurred when feedback exceeded a level which we associate with coherence collapse. The TDLS system had a CH₄ minimum detection limit of 7.5 ppmm without optical feedback. Optical feedback of less than ten percent reduced this sensitivity by two orders of magnitude. This reduction of system sensitivity was accompanied by a second-harmonic absorption signal baseline shift which degraded the system accuracy.     

Collective atomic motion in an optical lattice formed inside a high finesse cavity

We report on collective nonlinear dynamics in an optical lattice formed inside a high finesse ring cavity in a so far unexplored regime, where the light shift per photon times the number of trapped atoms exceeds the cavity resonance linewidth. We observe bistability and self-induced squeezing oscillations resulting from the retroaction of the atoms upon the optical potential wells. We can well understand most of our observations within a simplified model assuming adiabaticity of the atomic motion. Nonadiabatic aspects of the atomic motion are reproduced by solving the complete system of coupled nonlinear equations of motion.