Coherence of nonlinear Bloch dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates in deep optical lattices

Atomic interaction leads to dephasing and damping of Bloch oscillations(BOs)in optical lattices,which limits observation and applications of BOs.How to obtain persistent BOs is particularly important.Here,the nonlinear Bloch dynamics of the Bose-Einstein condensate with two-body and three-body interactions in deep optical lattices is studied.The damping rate induced by interactions is obtained.The damping induced by two-body interaction plays a dominant role,while the damping induced by three-body interaction is weak.However,when the two-body and three-body interactions satisfy a threshold,long-lived coherent BOs are observed.Furthermore,the Bloch dynamics with periodical modulation of linear force is studied.The frequencies of linear force corresponding to resonance and pseudoresonance are obtained,and rich dynamical phenomena,i.e.,stable and strong BOs,drifting and dispersion of wave packet,are predicted.The controllable Bloch dynamics is provided with the periodic modulation of the linear force.

Plasmonic Bloch Oscillations and Resonant Zener Tunneling in Subwavelength Metal-Dielectric-Air Waveguide Superlattices

In this paper,we study the propagation properties of surface plasmon polaritons in plasmonic single-cavity superlattices and two-cavity superlattices which are composed of two kinds of alternately stacked subwavelength metal-dielectric-air waveguides with large dispersion.Theoretical predictions of plasmonic time-resolved Bloch oscillations existing in single-cavity superlat-tices and resonant Zener tunneling（ZT） occurring in two-cavity superlattices by the transfer matrix method（TMM） are well dem-onstrated by the numerical simulations on the propagation of SPPs pulse in the two kinds of superlattices by the finite-difference time-domain（FDTD） method.The two proposed superlattices can be conveniently fabricated by present nanotechnology,and the study may promote the realization of plasmonic BO and resonant ZT in nanoscale devices experimentally.

Bloch oscillation and Landau Zener tunnelling in a modulated optical lattice in a photovoltaic photorefractive crystal

We theoretically study the beam dynamical behaviour in a modulated optical lattice with a quadratic potential in a photovoltaic photorefractive crystal. We find that two different Bloch oscillation patterns appear for the excitation of both broad and narrow light beams. One kind of optical Landau-Zener tunnelling also appears upon the Bloch oscillation and can be controlled by adjusting the parameter of the optical lattice. Unlike the case of linear potential, the energy radiation due to Landau-Zener tunnelling can be confined in modulated lattices of this kind. For high input intensity levels, the Landau-Zener tunnelling is suppressed by the photovoltaic photorefractive nonlinearity and a symmetry breaking of beam propagation from the modulational instability appears.

Electromagnetic Bloch oscillation in one-dimensional multiple microcavities composed of metamaterials

We propose a photonic structure stacked sequentially by one-dimensional photonic crystals and cavities. The whole structure is composed of single-negative and double-negative materials. The optical Wannier-Stark ladder （WSL） can be obtained in a low frequency region by modulating the widths of the cavities in order. We simulate the dynamical behavior of the electromagnetic wave passing through the proposed photonic structure. Due to the dispersive characteristics of the metamaterials, a very narrow WSL can be obtained. The long-period electromagnetic Bloch oscillation is demonstrated theoretically to have a period on a microsecond time scale.

Collapses-revivals phenomena induced by weak magnetic flux in diamond chain

We investigate the quantum dynamical behaviors of bosons in a diamond chain with weak magnetic flux(WMF),including Landau–Zener tunnelling,Bloch oscillations,localization phenomenon,and collapses-revivals phenomena.We observed that collapses-revivals phenomena can occur in diamond chain with WMF and cannot exist in the strong magnetic flux case as the previous study(Chang N N and Xue J K,2018,Chin.Phys.B 27105203).Induced by WMF,the energy band for the system varies from gapless to gapped structure.The position of the extrema of probability amplitude for ground state can also be altered by WMF within a single diamond plaquette.As a consequence,the transitions between different dynamical behaviors of bosons in diamond chain can be manipulated by WMF,depending on its initial configurations.

Tunneling dynamics of bosons in the diamond lattice chain

We analyze the effect of tilting and artificial magnetic flux, on the energy bands structure for the system and the corresponding tunneling dynamics for bosons with various initial configurations in the diamond lattice chain, where intriguing and significant phenomena occur, including Landau–Zener tunneling, Bloch oscillations, and localization phenomenon.Both vertical tilting and artificial magnetic flux may alter the structure of energy levels（dispersion structure or flat band）,and enforce the occurrence of Landau–Zener tunneling, which scans the whole of the Bloch bands. We find that, transitions among Landau–Zener tunneling, Bloch oscillations, and localization phenomenon, are not only closely related to the energy bands structure, but also depends on the initial configuration of bosons in the diamond lattice chain. As a consequence,Landau–Zener tunneling, Bloch oscillations, and localization phenonmenon of bosons always counteract and are complementary with each other in the diamond lattice chain.

Schrodinger cat states prepared by Bloch oscillation in a spin-dependent optical lattice

We propose to use Bloch oscillation of ultra-cold atoms in a spin-dependent optical lattice to prepare Schro¨dinger cat states.Depending on its internal state,an atom feels different periodic potentials and thus has different energy band structures for its center-of-mass motion.Consequently,under the same gravity force,the wave packets associated with different internal states perform Bloch oscillation of different amplitudes in space and in particular they can be macroscopically displaced with respect to each other.In this manner,a cat state can be prepared.

Experimental demonstration of optical Bloch oscillation in electromagnetically induced photonic lattices

The optical Bloch oscillation(OBO)is an optical-quantum analogy effect that is significant for light field manipulations,such as light beam localization,oscillation and tunneling.As an intra-band oscillation,OBO was important for optical investigations in photonic lattices and atomic vapors over an extended period of time.However,OBO in reconfigurable platforms is still an open topic,even though tunability is highly desired in developing modern photonic techniques.Here we theoretically establish and experimentally demonstrate OBO in an electromagnet-ically induced photonic lattice with a ramping refractive index,established in a coherently-prepared three-level 85 Rb atomic vapor under the electromagnetically induced transparency condition.This is achieved by interfering two coupling beams with Gaussian profiles and launching a probe beam that exhibits OBO within the resulting lattice.The induced reconfigurable photonic lattice possesses a transverse gradient,due to the innate edges of Gaussian beams,and sets a new stage for guiding the flow of light in periodic photonic environments.Our results should motivate better understanding of peculiar physical properties of an intriguing quantum-optical analogy in an atomic setting.