Entanglement interferometry for precision measurement of atomic scattering properties

We report on a matter wave interferometer realized with entangled pairs of trapped 87Rb atoms. Each pair of atoms is confined at a single site of an optical lattice potential. The interferometer is realized by first creating a coherent spin superposition of the two atoms and then tuning the interstate scattering length via a Feshbach resonance. The selective change of the interstate scattering length leads to an entanglement dynamics of the two-particle state that can be detected in a Ramsey interference experiment. This entanglement dynamics is employed for a precision measurement of atomic interaction parameters. Furthermore, the interferometer allows us to separate lattice sites with one or two atoms in a nondestructive way.     

Direct measurement of intrinsic atomic scale magnetostriction

Using differential x-ray absorption spectroscopy (DiffXAS) we have measured and quantified the intrinsic, atomic-scale magnetostriction of Fe81Ga19. By exploiting the chemical selectivity of DiffXAS, the Fe and Ga local environments have been assessed individually. The enhanced magnetostriction induced by the addition of Ga to Fe was found to originate from the Ga environment, where lambda;{gamma,2}( approximately (3/2)lambda_{100}) is 390+/-40 ppm. In this environment, 001 Ga-Ga pair defects were found to exist, which mediate the magnetostriction by inducing large strains in the surrounding Ga-Fe bonds. For the first time, intrinsic, chemically selective magnetostrictive strain has been measured and quantified at the atomic level, allowing true comparison with theory.     

Thin-film thickness profile measurement using wavelet transform in wavelength-scanning interferometry

We proposed a new method for retrieving the phase from wavelength-scanning interferogram by wavelet transform. We demonstrate, with both theoretical and experimental data, that this method provides a reliable technique for retrieving phase in the wavelength-scanning interferometry. We show that the proposed method by wavelet transform can reconstruct the nonlinear phase better than the conventional Fourier transform and direct spectral phase calculation method by simulation. The patterned thin film is measured to get the thickness and surface profile simultaneously with the developed wavelength-scanning interferometry.     

White light interferometry with spectral-temporal demodulation for large-range thickness measurement

Film thickness measurement can be realized using white light interferometry, but it is challenging to guarantee high precision in a large range of thicknesses. Based on scanning white light interferometry, we propose a spectral-temporal demodulation scheme for large-range thickness measurement. The demodulation process remains unchanged for either coatings or substrate-free films, while some adjustments are made according to the estimated optical thickness.Experiments show that the single-point ...     

基于激光外差干涉术的薄膜厚度测量方法

针对光学薄膜厚度测量困难问题，提出了一种基于激光外差干涉术的薄膜厚度测量方法。采用经典迈克尔逊干涉光路，利用外差干涉原理将薄膜厚度差转换为光程差，以精密位移平台为扫描机构实现薄膜厚度的逐行扫描测量。测量系统在恒温实验条件下20 min内的漂移不超过8 nm，测量结果平均差小于1 nm，通过与椭圆偏振仪的测量结果比较，测量差值为12.97 nm，表明了该方法的可行性。     

原子尺度上水与物质的相互作用

水是生命活动和工业生产的重要组成部分,而水与物质表面的相互作用是其发挥功能的重要途径。人们通过大量研究发现,在原子尺度上,水与物质的相互作用会导致很多反常的物理现象,从而影响到水体系的宏观性质。文章简述了近年来作者所在的研究组对水与物质在原子尺度上的相互作用的部分研究进展,主要包括分子扩散导致的表面超亲水—超疏水转变、晶格常数改变诱导的反常浸润机制,石墨炔纳米孔中水的量子化传输,以及等离激元诱导的水分解等。     

Electromagnetic coupling at an atomic scale

We report the first spectrally resolved measurements of scanning tunnelling microscope induced fluorescence from monatomic steps. As a function of lateral distance from the step edge, on a sub nanometre scale, increasingly large red (blue) shifts of the emission are observed as the tip approaches the lower (upper) step edge.     

Optical substrate thickness measurement system using hybrid fiber-freespace optics and selective wavelength interferometry

Proposed and demonstrated is a simple few components non-contact thickness measurement system for optical quality semi-transparent samples such as Silicon (Si) and 6H Silicon Carbide (SiC) optical chips used for designing sensors. The instrument exploits a hybrid fiber-freespace optical design that enables self-calibrating measurements via the use of confocal imaging via single mode fiber-optics and a self-imaging type optical fiber collimating lens. Data acquisition for fault-tolerant measurements is accomplished via a sufficiently broadband optical source and a tunable laser and relevant wavelength discriminating optics. Accurate sample thickness processing is achieved using the known material dispersion data for the sample and the few (e.g., 5) accurately measured optical power null wavelengths produced via the sample etalon effect. Thicknesses of 281.1 μm and 296 μm are measured for given SiC and Si optical chips, respectively.     

原子钟在精密测量领域的新应用

近年来,伴随着原子钟研制精度的不断提高,尤其是基于中性原子的光晶格钟,其稳定度已经推进到10^-19量级,不确定度也已达到小系数10^-18量级,原子光钟在精密测量领域的应用也被推上了一个新高度。除了被广泛谈及的用于测量精细结构常数的变化、测量引力波以及寻找暗物质,高精度的原子光钟被认为是一个可用于大地测量以及爱因斯坦广义相对论验证的强有力的工具。文章主要从原子光晶格钟测量引力红移的角度出发,介绍原子光晶格钟在测地学方面的应用。最后,引入高精度原子光晶格钟用于系统熵的测量,这可能成为未来精密测量的一个新领域。     

Non-contact thickness measurement for ultra-thin metal foils with differential white light interferometry

A new differential white light interference technique for the thickness measurements of metal foil is presented. In this work, the differential white light system consists of two Michelson interferometers in tandem,and the measured reflective surfaces are the corresponding surfaces of metal foil. Therefore, the measuring result is only relative to the thickness but not the position of metal foil. The method is non-contact and non-destructive, it has the advantages of high accuracy, fast detection, and compact structure. Theoretical analysis and preliminary experimental verifications have shown that the technique can be used to measure the thickness of foil in the range of 1 to 80 μm with accuracy better than 0.08 μm.     

New data-processing technique for measurement of metallic foil thickness with differential white-light interferometry

The thickness of metallic foil was measured by differential white-light interferometry (DWLI). Two tandem Michelson interferometers (MI), in which the reflective surfaces measured are the surfaces of the metallic foil, were used as a basic interferometry system to obtain interference fringes on a spectrometer. Therefore, the interference fringes depend only on the path differences caused by the thickness of the metallic foil. The interference fringes were analyzed using a modified extremum method based on the least root-mean-square (RMS) deviation. Experimental results for thickness measurements are presented. Measurement time is only 100 ms or less for a thickness of 1–80 μm.     

Tunneling interferometry and measurement of the thickness of ultrathin metallic Pb(111) films

Spectra of the differential tunneling conductivity for ultrathin lead films grown on Si(111) 7 × 7 single crystals with a thickness of 9 to 50 ML have been studied by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. The presence of local maxima of the tunneling conductivity is characteristic of such systems. The energies of maxima of the differential conductivity are determined by the spectrum of quantum-confined states of electrons in a metallic layer and, consequently, the local thickness of the layer. It has been shown that features of the microstructure of substrates, such as steps of monatomic height, structural defects, and inclusions of other materials covered with a lead layer, can be visualized by bias-modulation scanning tunneling spectroscopy.     

Quantum-circuit guide to optical and atomic interferometry

Atomic (qubit) and optical or microwave (modal) phase-estimation protocols are placed on the same footing in terms of quantum-circuit diagrams. Circuit equivalences are used to demonstrate the equivalence of protocols that achieve the Heisenberg limit by employing entangled superpositions of Fock states, such as N00N states. The key equivalences are those that disentangle a circuit so that phase information is written exclusively on a mode or modes or on a qubit. The Fock-state-superposition phase-estimation circuits are converted to use entangled coherent-state superpositions; the resulting protocols are more amenable to realization in the lab, particularly in a qubit/cavity setting at microwave frequencies.     

基于相位偏移干涉术的薄膜厚度测量方法

为解决薄膜厚度的高精度测量问题,提出一种基于相位偏移干涉术的薄膜厚度测量新方法,利用该方法对一个实际SiO₂薄膜样片进行测试,通过对所获取的干涉图进行相位解包及数据分析处理,实现对薄膜样片厚度的精确测试。结果表明：该方法具有非接触和测量精度高等优点,所测薄膜厚度的峰谷值为0.162μm,均方根值为0.043μm,为薄膜工艺的进一步研究提供了检测方法上的技术保障。     

Interface of transition metal oxides at the atomic scale

Remarkable phenomena arise at well-defined heterostructures, composed of transition metal oxides, which is absent in the bulk counterpart, providing us a paradigm for exploring the various electron correlation effects. The functional properties of such heterostructures have attracted much attention in the microelectronic and renewable energy fields. Exotic and unexpected states of matter could arise from the reconstruction and coupling among lattice, charge, orbital and spin at the interfaces. Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) is a powerful tool to visualize the lattice structure and electronic structure at the atomic scale. In the present study some novel phenomena of oxide heterostructures at the atomic scale are summarized and pointed out from the perspective of electron microscopy.     

Simultaneous measurement of the phase and group indices and the thickness of transparent plates by low-coherence interferometry

We propose and demonstrate a novel technique for simultaneous measurement of the phase index, n(p) , the group index, n(g) , and the thickness, t , of transparent plates by use of a low-coherence interferometer. The output light from a superluminescent diode is focused upon the front plane of a transparent plate that is used as the sample. The sample stage is subsequently moved until the light is focused upon the rear plane of the plate. Measurement of the stage movement distance and the corresponding optical path difference allows us to determine both n(p) and n(g) . By placing the sample between two glass plates, we measured n(p) , n(g) , and t simultaneously, with an error of 0.3% or less, for nearly 1-mm-thick transparent plates, including glass and electro-optic crystals.     

Tunable magnetic interaction at the atomic scale in oxide heterostructures

We report on a systematic study of a number of structurally identical but chemically distinct transition metal oxides in order to determine how the material-specific properties such as the composition and the strain affect the properties at the interface of heterostructures. Our study considers a series of structures containing two layers of ferromagnetic SrRuO?, with antiferromagnetic insulating manganites sandwiched in between. The results demonstrate how to control the strength and relative orientation of interfacial ferromagnetism in correlated electron materials by means of valence state variation and substrate-induced strain, respectively.     

原子尺度构建二维材料的第一性原理计算研究

随着信息技术的不断进步,核心元器件朝着运行速度更快、能耗更低、尺寸更小的方向快速发展.尺寸不断减小导致的量子尺寸效应使得材料和器件呈现出许多与传统三维体系不同的新奇物性.从原子结构出发,预测低维材料物性、精准合成、表征、调控并制造性能良好的电子器件,对未来电子器件的发展及相关应用具有至关重要的意义.理论计算能在保持原子级准确度的情况下高效、低耗地预测材料结构、物性、界面效应等,是原子制造技术中不可或缺的重要研究手段.本综述从第一性原理计算角度出发,回顾了近年来其在二维材料结构探索、物性研究和异质结构造等方面的应用及取得的重要进展,并展望了在原子尺度制造背景下二维材料的发展前景.