Superradiance of ultracold cesium Rydberg |65D_(5/2)> → |66P_(3/2)>

We investigate Rydberg |65D_(5/2)> → |66P_(3/2)> superradiance in dense ultracold cesium atoms,where the ground atoms are excited to |65D_(5/2)> Rydberg states via two-photon excitation in a standard magneto-optical trap.The superradiant spectrum of |65D_(5/2)> → |66P_(3/2)> is obtained using the state-selective field ionization technique.We observe its dynamic evolution process by varying the delay time of ionization field td.The results show that the evolution process of |65D_(5/2)> →|66P_(3/2)> is much shorter than its radiation lifetime at room temperature,which verifies the superradiance effect.The dependence of the superradiance process on Rydberg atoms number N_(e) and principal quantum number n is investigated.The results show that the superradiance becomes faster with increasing N_(e),while it is suppressed for stronger van der Waals(vdW) interactions.Superradiance has potential applications in quantum technologies,and the Rydberg atom is an ideal medium for superradiance.Our system is effective for studying the strong two-body interaction between Rydberg atoms.

Precise measurement of a weak radio frequency electric field using a resonant atomic probe

We present a precise measurement of a weak radio frequency electric field with a frequency of ■3 GHz employing a resonant atomic probe that is constituted with a Rydberg cascade three-level atom, including a cesium ground state |6S(1/2)〉,an excited state |6P(3/2)〉, and Rydberg state |nD(5/2)〉. Two radio frequency(RF) electric fields, noted as local and signal fields, couple the nearby Rydberg transition. The two-photon resonant Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency(Rydberg-EIT) is employed to directly read out the weak signal field having hundreds of k Hz difference between the local and signal fields that is encoded in the resonant microwave-dressed Rydberg atoms. The minimum detectable signal fields of ESmin= 1.36 ± 0.04 mV/m for 2.18 GHz coupling |68D(5/2)〉→ |69P(3/2)〉 transition and 1.33 ± 0.02 mV/m for 1.32 GHz coupling |80D(5/2)〉→ |81P(3/2)〉 transition are obtained, respectively. The bandwidth dependence is also investigated by varying the signal field frequency and corresponding -3 dB bandwidth of 3 MHz is attained. This method can be employed to perform a rapid and precise measurement of the weak electric field, which is important for the atom-based microwave metrology.

Nonlinear spectroscopy of three-photon excitation of cesium Rydberg atoms in vapor cell

We present nonlinear spectra of four-level ladder cesium atoms employing 6 S1/2→6 P3/2→7 S1/2→30 P3/2 scheme of a room temperature vapor cell.A coupling laser drives Rydberg transition,a dressing laser couples two intermediate levels,and a probe laser optically probes the nonlinear spectra via electromagnetically induced transparency(EIT).Nonlinear spectra are detected as a function of coupling laser frequency.The observed spectra exhibit an enhanced absorption(EA) signal at coupling laser resonance to Rydberg transition and enhanced transmission(ET) signals at detunings to the transition.We define the enhanced absorption(transmission) strength,HEA(HET),and distance between two ET peaks,γET,to describe the spectral feature of the four-level atoms.The enhanced absorption signal HEA is found to have a maximum value when we vary the dressing laser Rabi frequency Ωd,corresponding Rabi frequency is defined as a separatrix point,ΩdSe.The values of ΩdSe and further η=ΩdSe/Ωc are found to depend on the probe and coupling Rabi frequency but not the atomic density.Based on ΩdSe,the spectra can be separated into two regimes,weak and strong dressing ranges,Ωd≤ΩdSe and Ωd≥QdSe,respectively.The spectroscopies display different features at these two regimes.A four-level theoretical model is developed that agrees well with the experimental results in terms of the probe-beam absorption behavior of Rabi frequency-dependent dressed states.

Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency and Autler–Townes splitting in a weak radio-frequency electric field

We utilize an electromagnetically induced transparency(EIT) of a three-level cascade system involving Rydberg state in a room-temperature cell, formed with a cesium 6 S_(1/2)–6 P_(3/2)–66 S_(1/2) scheme, to investigate the Autler–Townes(AT)splitting resulting from a 15.21-GHz radio-frequency(RF) field that couples the |66 S_(1/2) → |65 P_(1/2) Rydberg transition.The radio-frequency electric field induced AT splitting, γAT, is defined as the peak-to-peak distance of an EIT-AT spectrum.The dependence of AT splitting γAT on the probe and coupling Rabi frequency, ?_p and ?_c, is investigated. It is found that the EIT-AT splitting strongly depends on the EIT linewidth that is related to the probe and coupling Rabi frequency in a weak RF-field regime. Using a narrow linewidth EIT spectrum would decrease the uncertainty of the RF field measurements.This work provides new experimental evidence for the theoretical framework in [J. Appl. Phys. 121, 233106(2017)].

Enhancing the thermoelectric performance through the mutual interaction between conjugated polyelectrolytes and single-walled carbon nanotubes

We present a method of constructing composites composed of conjugated polyelectrolytes(CPEs)and singlewalled carbon nanotubes(SWCNTs)to obtain a high-performing flexible thermoelectric generator.In this approach,three kinds of polymers,namely,poly[(1,4-(2,5-didodecyloxybenzene)-alt-2,5-thiophene](P1),poly[(1,4-(2,5-bis-sodium butoxysulfonate-phenylene)-alt-2,5-thiophene](P2),and poly[(1,4-(2,5-bis-acid butoxysulfonic-phenylene)-alt-2,5-thiophene](P3)are designed,synthesized and complexed with SWCNTs as thermoelectric composites.The electrical conductivities of the CPEs/SWCNTs(P2/SWCNTs,and P3/SWCNTs)nanocomposites are much higher than those of non-CPEs/SWCNTs(P1/SWCNTs)nanocomposites.Among them,the electrical conductivity of P2/SWCNTs with a ratio of 1:4 reaches 3686 S·cm^(-1),which is 12.4 times that of P1/SWCNTs at the same SWCNT mass ratio.Moreover,CPEs/SWCNTs composites(P2/SWCNTs)display remarkably improved thermoelectric properties with the highest power factor(PF)of 163μW·m^(-1)·K^(-1).In addition,a thermoelectric generator is fabricated with P2/SWCNTs composite films,and the output power and power density of this generator reach 1.37μW and 1.4 W·m;(cross-section)at△T=70 K.This result is over three times that of the thermoelectric generator composed of non-CPEs/SWCNTs composite films(P1/SWCNTs,0.37μW).The remarkably improved electrical conductivities and thermoelectric properties of the CPEs/SWCNTs composites(P2/SWCNTs)are attributed to the enhanced interaction.This method for constructing CPEs/SWCNTs composites can be applied to produce thermoelectric materials and devices.

Radiation-Pressure Effects in Cold-Atom Absorption Spectroscopy and Electromagnetically Induced Transparency

Radiation pressure due to the interaction between a probe light and cold atoms is investigated in a standard cesium magneto-optical trap. The radiation pressure alters the absorption spectroscopy of cold atoms, leading to line shapes and linewidths after resonant interaction that are different for positive and negative probe chirps. The difference is attributed to the radiation pressure of the probe laser, due to which atoms become accelerated at the resonance. The effect of the radiation pressure is also seen in electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) involving an excited Rydberg level. The density matrix equation accounting for the radiation pressure is used to simulate the experiments. The simulations agree well with the measurements both for absorption and EIT spectra. We find that the effect of the radiation pressure is reduced at low probe intensities, and can be neglected when the probe intensity is smaller than Isat/2 .

Response of anaerobes to methyl fluoride,2-bromoethanesulfonate and hydrogen during acetate degradation

To use the selective inhibition method for quantitative analysis of acetate metabolism in methanogenic systems,the responses of microbial communities and metabolic activities,which were involved in anaerobic degradation of acetate,to the addition of methyl fluoride（CH3F）,2-bromoethanesulfonate（BES）and hydrogen were investigated in a thermophilic batch experiment.Both the methanogenic inhibitors,i.e.,CH3F and BES,showed their effectiveness on inhibiting CH4 production,whereas acetate metabolism other than acetoclastic methanogenesis was stimulated by BES,as reflected by the fluctuated acetate concentration.Syntrophic acetate oxidation was thermodynamically blocked by hydrogen（H2）,while H2-utilizing reactions as hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis and homoacetogenesis were correspondingly promoted.Results of PCR-DGGE fingerprinting showed that,CH3F did not influence the microbial populations significantly.However,the BES and hydrogen notably altered the bacterial community structures and increased the diversity.BES gradually changed the methanogenic community structure by affecting the existence of different populations to different levels,whilst H2 greatly changed the abundance of different methanogenic populations,and induced growth of new species.