Two-dimensional imaging of gauge fields in optical lattices

We propose a scheme to generate an arbitrary Abelian vector potential for atoms trapped in a two-dimensional optical lattice. By making the optical lattice potential dependent on the atomic state, we transform the problem into that of a two-dimensional imaging. It is shown that an arbitrarily fine pattern of the gauge field in the lattice can be realized without need of diffraction-limited imaging.     

Excitation Spectrum of Spin-1 Bosonic Atoms in an Optical Lattice with High Filling Factors

The Green＇s function and the higher-order correlation functions of spin-1 cold atoms in an optical lattice are defined. Because we consider the problem of spin-1 Bose condensed atoms in an optical lattice with high filling factors, i.e., the number density of Bose condensed atoms no is large, the fluctuation of them can be neglected and we take mean-field approximation for the higher-order terms. The excitation spectra for both the polar case and the ferromagnetic case are obtained and analyzed.     

Splitting of atomic wave packets under multizone Raman excitation

A multizone excitation of a double Λ-system with three lower and two excited states (the so-called M-atom) by an optical radiation field is presented. It is shown that the Raman excitation of such a system can be used to implement an effective atomic beam splitter in one of the lower states. The advantage of the scheme under consideration is that the formation of a space lattice of the atomic density takes place when the atomic system interacts only with the optical radiation field and does not require any additional efforts to select the internal states in which such spatial structures are formed.     

Three-dimensional rectification of a gradient force in a strong nonmonochromatic field

A new three-dimensional scheme for rectifying a gradient force is proposed and analyzed. The scheme is based on the use of a strong, partially coherent optical field involving a component with a fluctuating phase. It is shown that the rectification of a gradient force acting on atoms with a nondegenerate ground state is a second-order effect with respect to field strength in this scheme, whereas an analogous effect is third-order in coherent bichromatic fields. Conditions for three-dimensional confinement of atoms are obtained by using the velocity dependence of the rectified radiative force. For a large class of atoms, such as even-even isotopes of ytterbium and alkaline-earth elements, these conditions can be implemented at a relatively high effective temperature (of the particle ensemble) of about 10 K. This finding can be used to widen substantially the range of energies of atoms amenable to effective three-dimensional optical manipulation.     

Feedback stabilization of atoms in an optical lattice

The feasibility of using feedback for stabilization of atoms in an off-resonance optical lattice is demonstrated. In the proposed scheme, the collective coordinate of atoms is measured and instantaneously compensated for via a spatial shift of the potential of the optical lattice. An external action that provides for heating of atoms with subsequent decrease in their lifetime in the lattice is simulated by a set of independent reservoirs, each interacting only with one atom. A quantum-mechanical analysis of the problem shows that the use of the feedback within the proposed scheme makes it possible to stabilize the energy of atoms at a level below the equilibrium energy.     

Simulation and detection of massive Dirac fermions with cold atoms in one-dimensional optical lattice

We propose a simple but feasible experimental scheme to simulate and detect Dirac fermions with cold atoms trapped in one-dimensional optical lattice. In our scheme, through tuning the laser intensity, the one-dimensional optical lattice can have two sites in each unit cell and the atoms around the low energy behave as massive Dirac fermions. Furthermore, we show that these relativistic quasiparticles can be detected experimentally by using atomic density profile measurements and Bragg scattering.     

Light-induced atomic elevator in optical lattices

It is shown how an atomic elevator that can elevate falling cold atoms in a vertical optical lattice can be created. The effect appears near resonance owing to the nonlinear interaction between the electronic and mechanical degrees of freedom of an atom, which is responsible for its random walk in rigid optical lattices without any modulation and additional action. Numerical experiments involving spontaneous emission demonstrate that random walk of atoms and light-induced atomic elevator can be observed in a real experiment.     

Cooling of multilevel atoms below the one-photon recoil limit by Raman π-pulses

Analysis of optical excitation of a double Λ system with three lower and two excited states (so-called M atom) by the field of four travelling optical waves is carried out. It is shown that excitation of such a system by Raman π pulses can be used for deep cooling of M atoms to a temperature much lower than the temperature controlled by the recoil energy. The application of the proposed scheme considerably simplifies practical implementation of deep Raman cooling, which considerably extends the range of application of this technique.     

Simulation and detection of dirac fermions with cold atoms in an optical lattice

We propose an experimental scheme to simulate and observe relativistic Dirac fermions with cold atoms in a hexagonal optical lattice. By controlling the lattice anisotropy, one can realize both massive and massless Dirac fermions and observe the phase transition between them. Through explicit calculations, we show that both the Bragg spectroscopy and the atomic density profile in a trap can be used to demonstrate the Dirac fermions and the associated phase transition.     

Defect-suppressed atomic crystals in an optical lattice

We present a coherent filtering scheme which dramatically reduces the site occupation number defects for atoms in an optical lattice by transferring a chosen number of atoms to a different internal state via adiabatic passage. With the addition of superlattices it is possible to engineer states with a specific number of atoms per site (atomic crystals), which are required for quantum computation and the realization of models from condensed matter physics, including doping and spatial patterns. The same techniques can be used to measure two-body spatial correlation functions.     

Magnetic field-induced spectroscopy of forbidden optical transitions with application to lattice-based optical atomic clocks

We develop a method of spectroscopy that uses a weak static magnetic field to enable direct optical excitation of forbidden electric-dipole transitions that are otherwise prohibitively weak. The power of this scheme is demonstrated using the important application of optical atomic clocks based on neutral atoms confined to an optical lattice. The simple experimental implementation of this method--a single clock laser combined with a dc magnetic field--relaxes stringent requirements in current lattice-based clocks (e.g., magnetic field shielding and light polarization), and could therefore expedite the realization of the extraordinary performance level predicted for these clocks. We estimate that a clock using alkaline-earth-like atoms such as Yb could achieve a fractional frequency uncertainty of well below 10(-17) for the metrologically preferred even isotopes.     

Optical clock with millihertz linewidth based on a phase-matching effect

We propose a new scheme for the optical frequency standard based on the phase-matching effect of the nonadiabatic interaction of two quasimonochromatic fields with the states 1S0, 1P1, and 3P0 of atoms 88Sr, which are trapped in an optical lattice with magic wavelength. After establishing the phase correlation between two laser fields by the nonadiabatic process, the final linewidth for the difference frequency field, which can be generated by a nonlinear optical crystal, is about 1 mHz.     

Robust Scheme for Entangling Two Distant Atoms

A robust scheme is presented for realizing entangled states for two atoms trapped in separate cavities connected by an optical fiber. The first atom is initially in a superposition of the excited state and an auxiliary ground state not coupled to the first cavity, while the second one is initially in the ground state coupled to the second cavity. The scheme involves two atom-cavity-fiber interactions accompanied by the monitoring of the cavity decay and atomic spontaneous emission. The two atoms evolve to an entangled state through exchanging an excitation after the first interaction. The states with the excitation failing to be transferred are eliminated when a photon is detected during the second interaction. Therefore, the scheme is insensitive to the decoherence effect and detection inefficiency.     

Effective sideband cooling in an ytterbium optical lattice clock

Sideband cooling is a key technique for improving the performance of optical atomic clocks by preparing cold atoms and single ions into the ground vibrational state. In this work, we demonstrate detailed experimental research on pulsed Raman sideband cooling in a $^{171}$Yb optical lattice clock. A sequence comprised of interleaved 578 nm cooling pulses resonant on the 1st-order red sideband and 1388 nm repumping pulses is carried out to transfer atoms into the motional ground state. We successfully decrease the axial temperature of atoms in the lattice from 6.5 μK to less than 0.8 μK in the trap depth of 24 μK, corresponding to an average axial motional quantum number $\langle n_z\rangle<0.03$. Rabi oscillation spectroscopy is measured to evaluate the effect of sideband cooling on inhomogeneous excitation. The maximum excitation fraction is increased from 0.8 to 0.86, indicating an enhancement in the quantum coherence of the ensemble. Our work will contribute to improving the instability and uncertainty of Yb lattice clocks.     

A scalable quantum computer with ultranarrow optical transition of ultracold neutral atoms in an optical lattice

We propose a new quantum-computing scheme using ultracold neutral ytterbium atoms in an optical lattice, especially in a monolayer of three-dimensional optical lattice. The nuclear Zeeman sublevels define a qubit. This choice avoids the natural phase evolution due to the magnetic dipole interaction between qubits. The Zeeman sublevels with large magnetic moments in the long-lived metastable state are also exploited to address individual atoms and to construct a controlled-multiqubit gate. Estimated parameters required for this scheme show that this proposal is scalable and experimentally feasible.     

Light-Induced Hofstadter＇s Butterfly Spectrum in Optical Lattices

We propose a scheme to create an effective magnetic field, which can be perceived by cold neutral atoms in a two-dimensional optical lattice, with a laser field with a space-dependent phase and a conventional laser field acting on A-type three-level atoms. When the dimensionless parameter a, being the ratio of flux through a lattice cell to one flux quantum, is rational, the energy spectrum shows a fractal band structure, which is so-called Hofstadter＇s butterfly.     

Accordion lattice based on the Talbot effect

We introduce an idea of producing an optical lattice relied on the Talbot effect. Our alternative scheme is based on the interference of light behind a diffraction grating in the near-field regime. We demonstrate 1D and 2D optical lattices with the simulations and experiments. This Talbot optical lattice can be broadly used from quantum simulations to quantum information. The Talbot effect is usually used in lensless optical systems, therefore it provides small aberrations.     

Dynamically controlled optical nonreciprocity of a double-ladder system with spontaneously generated coherence in moving atomic optical lattice

A four-level double-ladder cold atoms system with spontaneously generated coherence trapped in a moving optical lattice is explored to achieve optical nonreciprocity. When spontaneously generated coherence(SGC) is present, the remarkable contrast optical nonreciprocity of light transmission and reflection can be generated at each induced photonic bandgap in the optical lattice with a velocity of a few m/s. However, when the SGC effect is absent, the optical nonreciprocity becomes weak or even vanishing due to the strong absorption. It is found that the optical nonreciprocity is related to the asymmetric Doppler effect in transmission and reflection, meanwhile the degree and position of optical nonreciprocity can be tuned by the SGC effect and the Rabi frequency of the trigger field.     

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.     

Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry (RIMS) with Pulsed and CW-Lasers on Plutonium

The detection of long-lived plutonium isotopes in ultra-trace amounts by resonance ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS) is a well-established routine method. Detection limits of 10⁶ to 10⁷ atoms and precise measurements of the isotopic composition have been achieved. In this work multi-step resonance ionization of plutonium atoms has been performed with tunable lasers having very different output intensities and spectral properties. In order to compare different ways for the resonance ionization of plutonium broadband pulsed dye and titanium:sapphire lasers as well as narrow-band cw-diode and titanium:sapphire lasers have been applied for a number of efficient excitation schemes. It has been shown, that for identical excitation schemes the optical isotope selectivity can be improved by using cw-lasers (bandwidths < 10 MHz) instead of pulsed lasers (bandwidths > 2 GHz). Pulsed and cw-laser systems have been used simultaneously for resonance ionization enabling direct comparisons of pulsed and continuous ionization processes. So far, a three-step, three-color laser excitation scheme has been proven to be most practical in terms of efficiency, selectivity and laser wavelengths. Alternatively a newly discovered three-step, two-color excitation scheme which includes a strong two-photon transition from an excited state into a high-lying autoionizing state yields similar ionization efficiencies. This two-photon transition was characterized with respect to saturation behavior and line width.