Estimating optical lattice alignment by RF spectroscopy

A method that uses radio frequency (RF) spectroscopy to evaluate the alignment of an optical lattice is proposed and demonstrated. A one-dimensional (1D) optical lattice is applied along the long axis of a cigar-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a magnetic trap. The RF spectra of condensates with and without the optical lattice are analyzed, measured, and compared with the condition in which the lattice is misaligned with the BEC. The proposed method greatly optimizes the optical alignments of the lattices.     

Experimental Investigation of the Electromagnetically Induced-Absorption-Like Effect for an N-Type Energy Level in a Rubidium BEC

We study the electromagnetically induced-absorption-like(EIA-like) effect for an n-type system in an ~(87)Rb Bose–Einstein condensate(BEC) using the absorption imaging technique for coupling and driving lasers operating at the D_1 and D_2 lines of ~(87)Rb. The coherent effect is probed by measuring the number of atoms remaining after the BEC is exposed to strong driving fields and a weak probe field. The absorption imaging technique accurately reveals the EIA-like effect of the n-type system. This coherent effect in an n-type system is useful for optical storage, tunable optical switching, and so on.     

Evaporative cooling of 87Rb atoms into Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical dipole trap

We create a Bose-Einstein condensate(BEC) of 87Rb atoms by runaway evaporative cooling in an optical trap.Two crossed infrared laser beams with a wavelength of 1064 nm are used to form an optical dipole trap.After precooling the atom samples in a quadrupole-Ioffe configuration(QUIC) trap under 1.5 μK by radio-frequency(RF) evaporative cooling,the samples are transferred into the center of the glass cell,then loaded into the optical dipole trap with 800 ms.The pure condensate with up to 1.5×105 atoms is obtained over 1.17 s by lowering the power of the trap beams.     

Strontium optical lattice clock at the National Time Service Center

We report the ~(87)Sr optical lattice clock developed at the National Time Service Center. We achieved a closed-loop operation of the optical lattice clock based on ~(87)Sr atoms. The linewidth of the spin-polarized clock peak is 3.9 Hz with a clock laser pulse length of 300 ms, which corresponds to a Fourier-limited linewidth of 3 Hz. The fitting of the in-loop error signal data shows that the instability is approximately 5 × 10~(-15)τ~(-1/2), affected primarily by the white noise. The fractional frequency difference averages down to 5.7 × 10~(-17) for an averaging time of 3000 s.     

Controlling Chaotic Behavior in a Bose-Einstein Condensate with Linear Feedback

The spatial structure of a Bose-Einstein condensate （BEC） loaded into an optical lattice potential is investigated and the spatially chaotic distributions of the condensates are revealed. A method of chaos control with linear feedback is presented in this paper. By using the method, we propose a scheme of controlling chaotic behavior in a BEC with atomic mirrors. The results of the computer simulation show that controlling the chaos into the stable states could be realized by adjusting the coefficient of feedback only if the maximum Lyapunov exponent of the system is negative.     

High quality electromagnetically induced transparency spectroscopy of ~(87)Rb in a buffer gas cell with a magnetic field

We have studied the phenomenon of electromagnetically induced transparency(EIT) of ~(87)Rb vapor with a buffer gas in a magnetic field at room temperature. It is found that the spectral lines caused by the velocity selective optical pump effects get much weaker and wider when the sample cell is mixed with a 5-Torr N_2 gas while the EIT signal is kept almost unchanged. A weighted least-square fit is also developed to remove the Doppler broadening completely. This spectral method provides a way to measure the Zeeman splitting with high resolution, for example, the Λ-type EIT resonance splits into four peaks on the D_2 line of ~(87)Rb in the thermal 2-cm vapor cell with a magnetic field along the electric field of the linearly polarized coupling laser. The high-resolution spectrum can be used to lock the laser to a given frequency by tuning the magnetic field.     

Influence on the Lifetime of ~(87)Rb Bose-Einstein Condensation for Far-Detuning Single-Frequency Lasers with Different Phase Noises

We study the influence of the phase noises of far detuning single frequency lasers on the lifetime of Bose-Einstein condensation(BEC)of~(87)Rb in an optical dipole trap.As a comparison,we shine a continuous-wave singlefrequency Ti:sapphire laser,an external-cavity diode laser and a phase-locked diode laser on BEC.We measure the heating and lifetime of BEC in two different hyperfine states:|F=2,m_F=2〉and|F=1,m_F=1〉.Due to the narrow linewidth and small phase noise,the continuous-wave single-frequency Ti:sapphire laser has less influence on the lifetime of~(87)Rb BEC than the external-cavity diode laser.To reduce the phase noise of the external-cavity diode laser,we use an optical phase-locked loop for the external-cavity diode laser to be locked on a Ti:sapphire laser.The lifetime of BEC is increased when applfying the phase-Jocked diode laser in contrast with the external-cavity diode laser.     

Initial Tests of a Rubidium Space Cold Atom Clock

We report the initial test results of a rubidium(~(87)Rb) space cold atom clock(SCAC).The space-qualified~(87)Rb SCAC is composed of the physical package,the optical bench,the microwave synthesizer and the control electronics.After the system is integrated,about 10~8 ~(87)Rb cold atoms are captured by magneto-optical trap.The linewidth of the Ramsey fringe is about 10 Hz for the free evolution time of 50 ms on the ground,and the signal-to-noise ratio is measured to be larger than 300.We demonstrate a good medium-term fractional frequency stability of 1.5 × 10~(-14) @1000s in the closed-loop operation on the ground.The main effects of the noise on the stability are also presented,and the optimized operating parameter is analyzed for the operation of SCAC in the microgravity environment.     

Enhancement of Transfer Efficiency of Cold Atoms Using an Optical Guiding Laser Beam

We transfer cold ^87 Rb atoms from a vapour cell chamber to a spatially separated UHV magneto-optical trap （MOT） with the assistance of a red-detuned optical guiding beam and a normal push beam. Efficient optical guiding of the cold atoms is observed within a small detuning window. A pulsed optical guiding beam enhances the transfer efficiency and hence allows us to collect more atoms in UHV MOT in a shorter time, which is favourable for our experiment of achieving Bose-Einstein condensates （BEC）. Besides the easy operation, another advantage of this optical guiding technique is also demonstrated such that slower atomic beams may be efficiently transferred along horizontal direction. This study is a direct application of the optical guiding technique as a powerful tool.     

Effects of Atom-Atom Interaction on Localization and Adiabaticity of BEC in One-Dimensional Disorder Optical Lattice

We numerically simulate the dynamical behavior of BEC in one-dimensional incommensurable optical lattice by split-step Fourier method in a time-dependent one-dimensional Gross Pitaevskii equation. It is indicated that the atom-atom interaction will weaken the localization and broaden the wave function, and it will destroy the adiabaticity of the ramped loading process in both single lattice and incommensurate lattice due to the broadening effect. A band structure model can interpret the difference of the adiabatic condition with non-interacting BEC in these optical lattices.