一种新颖的表面空心微光阱阵列

提出了采用四台阶相位光栅与微透镜阵列组合产生一种新颖的表面空心微光阱阵列的方案，研究了表面空心微光阱阵列的光强分布，计算了相应的光学囚禁势，并讨论了该微光阱阵列在原子分子光学中的潜在应用.研究表明当用1W的YAG激光照射时，在1cm²面积上可产生近10⁴个空心光阱，每个光阱具有较小的囚禁体积和较大的有效光强及其强度梯度，对⁸⁵Rb原子的光学囚禁势可达190μK.如此深的光阱足以囚禁冷原子或冷分子，并可用于实现全光型原子或分子玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚，甚至制备新颖的光学晶格等. 关键词： 空心光阱 冷原子或冷分子 光学晶格     

亚声速NH3分子束静电Stark减速的理论研究

本文基于自行研制的第二代(180级)静电Stark减速器, 展开了对NH₃的有效减速与冷却的理论研究. 首先, 计算了NH₃分子在|J=1, K=1>量子态的Stark分裂, 研究了不同的同步相位角下, 减速器中NH₃分子的纵向相空间稳定区域; 接着, 采用Monte-Carlo方法研究了该分子在传统工作模式下的减速效果, 并讨论了该减速模式下多个参数(包括每级损失动能、分子波包末速度和相对减速效率)与同步相位角的依赖关系, 以及减速波包末速度与减速电压的关系, 研究发现: 采用传统的Stark减速模式, 当减速电压为±13 kV、同步相位角φ₀=26.08°时, 即可实现NH₃从280 m/s到6.7 m/s的有效减速, 对应平动动能减少了99.9%, 其波包温度由1.34 K降至80 mK; 最后, 研究了先聚束后减速模式下NH₃分子的减速效果, 以及该减速模式下减速波包末速度与同步相位角的依赖关系, 结果表明: 当减速电压为± 6.5 kV, 采用前15级电极作为聚束电极, 后165级作为减速电极时, 可将NH₃分子波包的中心速度由280 m/s减至20.7 m/s, 平动动能减少了99.4%, 温度由1.34 K降至1.6 mK, 与传统减速模式相比, 冷分子波包温度降低至1/50. 由此可见, 采用180级的传统Stark减速器完全可以实现具有较低Stark势能的NH₃分子的有效减速与冷却, 并获得温度约为1 mK的冷分子波包, 为进一步的实验研究提供了可靠的理论依据.     

可操控二种冷原子或冷分子样品的光学双阱新方案及其实验研究

提出了一种构建可囚禁与操控二种冷原子或冷分子样品的光学双阱的新方案,该方案采用常用的液晶空间光调制器作为分光器件,分光调制函数类似二元相位光栅;对提出的方案进行了模拟实验研究,并研究了从光学双阱到单阱的双向演化过程,该光学双阱的模拟实验结果表明与理论方案相符,双阱的操控性好,有利于二种不同的冷原子或冷分子样品的装载与操控等相关实验研究. 关键词： 原子光学 原子分子囚禁 液晶空间光相位调制器 光学双阱     

用错位相位光栅产生的可调光学双阱

提出了用相位型错位光栅产生光学双阱的新方案.用平面光波(或TEM₀₀模式高斯光波)照射、正透镜聚焦,在透镜焦平面上产生的适用于冷原子或冷分子囚禁的多对可调光学双阱.计算和推导了双阱的光强分布、强度梯度以及光阱的几何参数与光学系统参数间的解析关系,研究了双阱到单阱三种不同的演化过程.同时还计算了光学双阱囚禁冷原子的光学偶极势和光子散射速率.研究发现,该方案不仅简单可行、操作方便,而且在原子物理、原子光学、分子光学和量子光学领域中有着广阔的应用前景. 关键词： 原子光学 相位光栅 光学双阱 冷原子囚禁     

采用Damman光栅实现冷原子或冷分子囚禁的光阱阵列

提出了一种采用Damman光栅和球面透镜组合光学系统产生二维光阱阵列的新方案. 在使用红失谐高斯激光束照射的条件下，推导了计算光阱阵列的周期、光强分布、光强梯度和光阱几何参数的经验公式，讨论了此光阱阵列的特点以及在原子光学和分子光学中的应用. 研究结果表明，这种光阱阵列方案比已有的光阱阵列方案更为简单可行、操作方便，非常适用于冷原子或冷分子的阵列囚禁，以及制备新颖的光学晶格. 关键词： 冷原子或冷分子 光阱阵列 Damman光栅 光偶极势     

锶玻色子的“魔术”波长光晶格装载实验研究

光晶格中性原子光钟的不确定度已达到10^-18量级. 本文介绍了碱土金属锶原子玻色子⁸⁸Sr在“魔术”波长处的一维光晶格装载, 实现冷锶原子的囚禁并使锶原子的钟跃迁能级(5s²) ¹S₀-(5s5p) ³P₀在此波长处的交流斯塔克光频移一致. 实验中半导体激光器产生“魔术”光波长(813 nm), 通过实验搭建光学驻波场并获得晶格激光聚焦光束, 束腰半径为38 μm. 经过一级冷却和二级冷却后温度约为2 μK的冷锶原子被此“魔术”波长光晶格囚禁. 通过实验测量得到锶原子玻色子⁸⁸Sr光晶格寿命为270 ms, 数目约为1.2×10⁵, 温度在3.5 μK左右, 此外研究了晶格光功率对晶格囚禁原子数目及温度的影响作用. 原子的光晶格装载为后续的钟跃迁提供了长的探测时间, 为进一步的光钟闭环提供了实验基础.     

基于多能级速率方程的CaH分子三维磁光囚禁模型

分子激光冷却与磁光囚禁在超越标准模型的新物理与新机制探索、超冷化学与冷分子碰撞等诸多领域中有着广泛的应用前景. CaH分子的某些态之间具有高度对角化的弗兰克-康登因子,因此早在2004年就被提出作为激光冷却与磁光囚禁的候选分子之一.利用速率方程并考虑双频效应的影响,本文计算了A²Π_1/2←X²Σ⁺与B²Σ⁺←X²Σ⁺跃迁中CaH分子磁光阱内阻尼力和囚禁力的大小,分析了四频率组分和多频率组分激光设置下CaH分子磁光囚禁时的冷却和囚禁效果.结果发现,A²Π_1/2←X²Σ⁺跃迁中, CaH分子在多频率组分激光设置下可获得更大的阻尼力和囚禁力,从而有利于实现CaH分子磁光阱.以上工作不仅证明了CaH分子磁光囚禁的可行性以及为实验探索提供了必要的理论支持,同时也为超冷分子碰撞、极性冷分子BEC、基于极性冷分子的精密测量物理(如电子电偶极...     

可控双空心光束的理论方案及实验研究

提出了一种利用双周期弧向非满额相位调制的方法产生双空心光束的方案. 当准直氦氖激光通过1.5 mm半径透光孔照射到该相位图样时, 在200 mm成像透镜像空间获得长30 mm, 间距57.6μm, 单管束宽度0.11–0.14 mm的双空心光束. 该方案结构简单, 产生的双空心光束具有较好的可控性, 双光管间距由相位调制因子p决定, 能够实现从双空心光束到单空心光束的双向演化. 对所提出的方案进行了实验研究并得到与理论相符的结果. 利用多种组合方式讨论了将该方案拓展到蓝失谐光学囚禁势阱, 可以实现可控的空心双光阱、四光阱与光学晶格等, 有望在冷原子、冷分子囚禁与操控等领域的实验研究中发挥重要作用.     

实现冷原子或冷分子囚禁的双层光阱列阵

提出了一种新颖的实现冷原子或冷分子囚禁的双层光阱方案,它由二元π相位板列阵和会聚透镜列阵所组成,用平面光波通过此光学系统时将在透镜焦平面两侧形成双层光阱.介绍了产生双层光阱的基本原理,分析了光阱光强分布、强度梯度等与光学系统参数间的关系,研究了双层光阱囚禁原子(或分子)的光学偶极势和自发散射速率(包括瑞利散射和拉曼散射)等.该方案不仅可用于多样品原子(或分子)的光学囚禁及全光型玻色一爱因斯坦凝聚(BEC),而且可用于制备新颖的双层2D光学晶格.     

一种实现冷原子(或冷分子)囚禁的可控制纵向光学双阱

提出了一种新颖的实现冷原子(或冷分子)囚禁的可控制纵向光学双阱方案，它由一个二元π相位板及一会聚透镜所组成，其π相位板由两个面积相等的具有0和π相位的同心圆环组成. 当一平面光波通过此光学系统时将在光轴上透镜焦点两侧形成一个光学双阱，如果调节入射到二元π相位板上光束横截面的半径大小，即可实现从光学双阱到单阱的连续演变，或由单阱到双阱的连续变化. 介绍了本方案产生可控制光学双阱的基本原理，给出了形成光学双阱的最佳几何参数，研究了双阱、单阱及其演化过程的光阱参数、光强分布等与光学系统参数间的关系. 该方案不仅可用于双样品原子(分子)的光学囚禁及其全光型玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚(BEC)的实现，而且可用于研究超冷原子(或分子)物质波的干涉，或构成双层2D光阱列阵，甚至用于制备新颖的双层2D光学晶格. 关键词： 二元π相位板 可控制光学双阱 双样品囚禁 光学晶格     

Efficient Stark deceleration of cold polar molecules

Stark deceleration has been utilized for slowing and trapping several species of neutral, ground-state polar molecules generated in a supersonic beam expansion. Due to the finite physical dimension of the electrode array and practical limitations of the applicable electric fields, only molecules within a specific range of velocities and positions can be efficiently slowed and trapped. These constraints result in a restricted phase space acceptance of the decelerator in directions both transverse and parallel to the molecular beam axis; hence, careful modeling is required for understanding and achieving efficient Stark decelerator operation. We present work on slowing of the hydroxyl radical (OH) elucidating the physics controlling the evolution of the molecular phase space packets both with experimental results and model calculations. From these results we deduce experimental conditions necessary for efficient operation of a Stark decelerator.     

Generation of high-energy-resolved NH_3 molecular beam by a Stark decelerator with 179 stages

We demonstrate the production of cold, slow NH_3 molecules from a supersonic NH_3 molecular beam using our electrostatic Stark decelerator consisting of 179 slowing stages. By using this long Stark decelerator, a supersonic NH_3 molecular beam can be easily decelerated to trappable velocities. Here we present two modes for operating the Stark decelerator to slow the supersonic NH_3 molecules. The first is the normal mode, where all 179 stages are used to decelerate molecules, and it allows decelerating the NH_3 molecular beam from 333 m/s to 18 m/s, with a final temperature of 29.2 mK.The second is the deceleration-bunch mode, which allows us to decelerate the supersonic NH_3 beam from 333 m/s to 24 m/s,with a final temperature of 2.9 m K. It is clear that the second mode promises to produce colder(high-energy-resolution)molecular samples than the normal mode. Three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations are also performed for the experiments and they show a good agreement with the observed results. The deceleration-bunch operation mode presented here can find applications in the fields of cold collisions, high-resolution spectroscopy, and precision measurements.     

Theoretical study of slowing supersonic CH3F molecular beams using electrostatic Stark decelerator

We have calculated the Stark effect of CH3F molecules in external electrical fields,the rotational population of supersonic CH3F molecules in different quantum states,and analyse the motion of weak-field-seeking CH3F molecules in a state |J = 1,KM = 1 inside the electrical field of a Stark decelerator by using a simple analytical model.Threedimensional Monte Carlo simulation is performed to simulate the dynamical slowing process of molecules through the decelerator,and the results are compared with those obtained from the analytical model,including the phase stability,slowing efficiency as well as the translational temperature of the slowed molecular packet.Our study shows that with a modest dipole moment(～1.85 Debye) and a relatively slight molecular weight(～34.03),CH3F molecules in a state |J = 1,KM = 1 are a good candidate for slowing with electrostatic field.With high voltages of ±10 kV applied on the decelerator,molecules of 370 m/s can be brought to a standstill within 200 slowing stages.     

Slowing polar molecules using a wire Stark decelerator

We have designed and implemented a new Stark decelerator based on wire electrodes, which is suitable for ultrahigh vacuum applications. The 100 deceleration stages are fashioned out of 0.6 mm diameter tantalum and the array's total length is 110 mm, approximately 10 times smaller than a conventional Stark decelerator with the same number of electrode pairs. Using the wire decelerator, we have removed more than 90% of the kinetic energy from metastable CO molecules in a beam.     

Cold SO<Subscript>2</Subscript> molecules by Stark deceleration

We produce SO₂ molecules with a centre of mass velocity near zero using a Stark decelerator. Since the initial kinetic energy of the supersonic SO₂ molecular beam is high, and the removed kinetic energy per stage is small, 326 deceleration stages are necessary to bring SO₂ to a complete standstill, significantly more than in other experiments. We show that in such a decelerator possible loss due to coupling between the motional degrees of freedom must be considered. Experimental results are compared with 3D Monte-Carlo simulations and the quantum state selectivity of the Stark decelerator is demonstrated.     

Measurement of the three-dimensional velocity distribution of Stark-decelerated Rydberg atoms

The full three-dimensional velocity distributions of decelerated and accelerated particles in a Stark decelerator for Rydberg atoms and molecules have been measured. In the experiment, argon atoms in a supersonic beam are excited to low-field and high-field seeking Stark states with principal quantum number in the range n=15 to 25 and are decelerated in a 3 mm long decelerator consisting of four electrodes on which time-dependent voltages are applied. The time dependence of the resulting inhomogeneous electric field is chosen such that the decelerating force acting on the high-field seeking states is maximized at each point along the trajectories. The three-dimensional velocity distribution of the atoms before and after the deceleration is determined by measuring times of flight and two-dimensional images of the atomic cloud on the detector. Under optimal deceleration conditions, the decrease in kinetic energy in the longitudinal dimension amounts to 1.0×10^-21 J and the increase in mean kinetic energy in the transverse dimensions is only 1.0×10^-23 J. The corresponding temperatures of 100 mK and 300 mK in the two transverse dimensions are sufficiently low that trapping can be envisaged. The possibility of focusing a Rydberg atom beam is demonstrated experimentally.     

A quasi-analytic model of a linear Stark accelerator/decelerator for polar molecules

This article describes a quasi-analytic model of a linear Stark accelerator/decelerator for polar molecules in both their low- and high-field seeking states, and examines the dynamics of the acceleration/deceleration process and its phase stability. The requisite time-dependent inhomogeneous Stark fields, used in current experiments, are Fourier-analyzed and found to consist of a superposition of partial waves with well-defined phase velocities. The kinematics of the interaction of molecules with the partial waves is discussed and the notion of a phase of a molecule in a travelling field is introduced. Next, the net potential and the net force that act on the molecules are derived. A special case, the first-harmonic accelerator/decelerator, is introduced. This represents a model system many of whose properties can be obtained analytically. The first-harmonic accelerator/decelerator dynamics is presented and discussed along with that of the isomorphic biased-pendulum problem. Finally, the general properties of the velocity of the molecules in a phase-stable accelerator/decelerator are examined.Received: 11 August 2004, Published online: 23 November 2004PACS: 32.60. + i Zeeman and Stark effects - 39.10. + j Atomic and molecular beam sources and techniques - 45.50.-j Dynamics and kinematics of a particle and a system of particles - 29.17. + w Electrostatic, collective, and linear accelerators     

Mitigation of loss within a molecular Stark decelerator

The transverse motion inside a Stark decelerator plays a large role in the total efficiency of deceleration. We differentiate between two separate regimes of molecule loss during the slowing process. The first mechanism involves distributed loss due to coupling of transverse and longitudinal motion, while the second is a result of the rapid decrease of the molecular velocity within the final few stages. In this work, we describe these effects and present means for overcoming them. Solutions based on modified switching time sequences with the existing decelerator geometry lead to a large gain of stable molecules in the intermediate velocity regime, but fail to address the loss at very low final velocities. We propose a new decelerator design, the quadrupole-guiding decelerator, which eliminates distributed loss due to transverse/longitudinal couplings throughout the slowing process and also exhibits gain over normal deceleration to the lowest velocities.     

Loading Stark-decelerated molecules into electrostatic quadrupole traps

Beams of neutral polar molecules in a low-field seeking quantum state can be slowed down using a Stark decelerator, and can subsequently be loaded and confined in electrostatic quadrupole traps. The efficiency of the trap loading process is determined by the ability to couple the decelerated packet of molecules into the trap without loss of molecules and without heating. We discuss the inherent difficulties to obtain ideal trap loading, and describe and compare different trap loading strategies. A new “split-endcap” quadrupole trap design is presented that enables improved trap loading efficiencies. This is experimentally verified by comparing the trapping of OH radicals using the conventional and the new quadrupole trap designs.