Single atoms transferring between a magneto-optical trap and a far-off-resonance optical dipole trap

Based on our work on single cesium atoms trapped in a large-magnetic-gradient vapour-cell magneto-optical trap （MOT）, the signal-to-noise ratio （SNR） is remarkably improved. Also a far-off-resonance optical dipole trap （FORT） formed by a strongly-focused 1064 nm single frequency Nd：YVO4 laser beam is introduced. One cesium atom is prepared in the MOT, and then it can transfer successfully between the MOT and the FORT which is overlapped with the MOT. Utilizing the effective transfer, the lifetime of single atoms trapped in the FORT is measured to be 6.9± 0.3 s. Thus we provide a system where the atomic qubit can be coherently manipulated.

Experiments on trapping ytterbium atoms in optical lattices

Experiments on trapping ytterbium atoms in various optical lattices are presented. After the two-stage cooling, first in a blue magneto-optical trap and then in a green magneto-optical trap, the ultracold 171 Yb atoms are successfully loaded into one-, two-, and three-dimensional optical lattices operating at the Stark-free wavelength, respectively. The temperature, number, and lifetime of cold 171 Yb atoms in one-dimensional lattice are measured. After optimization, the one-dimensional lattice with cold 171Yb atoms is used for developing an ytterbium optical clock.

Enhanced cold mercury atom production with two-dimensional magneto-optical trap

A cold atom source is important for quantum metrology and precision measurement.To reduce the quantum projection noise limit in optical lattice clock,one can increase the number of cold atoms and reduce the dead time by enhancing the loading rate.In this work,we realize an enhanced cold mercury atom source based on a two-dimensional(2D)magnetooptical trap(MOT).The vacuum system is composed of two titanium chambers connected with a differential pumping tube.Two stable cooling laser systems are adopted for the 2D-MOT and the three-dimensional(3D)-MOT,respectively.Using an optimized 2D-MOT and push beam,about 1.3×10^(6)atoms,which are almost an order of magnitude higher than using a pure 3D-MOT,are loaded into the 3D-MOT for202Hg atoms.This enhanced cold mercury atom source is helpful in increasing the frequency stability of a neutral mercury lattice clock.

Two-dimensional novel optical lattices with multi-well traps for cold atoms or molecules

We propose some new schemes to constitute two-dimensional （2D） array of multi-well optical dipole traps for cold atoms （or molecules） by using an optical system consisting of a binary 7r-phase grating and a 2D array of rectangle microlens. We calculate the intensity distribution of each optical well in 2D array of multi-well traps and its geometric parameters and so on. The proposed 2D array of multi-well traps can be used to form novel 2D optical lattices with cold atoms （or molecules）, and form various novel optical crystals with cold atoms （or molecules）, or to perform quantum computing and quantum information processing on an atom chip, even to realize an array of all-optical multi-well atomic （or molecular） Bose- Einstein condensates （BECs） on an all-optical integrated atom （or molecule） chip.

Raman sideband cooling of rubidium atoms in optical lattice

We develop a simple and practical scheme to apply sideband cooling to a cloud of rubidium atoms. A sample containing 4 × 10^（70） ^（87）Rb is trapped in a far red detuned optical lattice. Through optimizing the relevant parameters, i.e., laser detuning, magnetic field, polarization, and duration time, a temperature around 1.5 μK and phase space density close to 1/500 are achieved. Compared with polarization gradient cooling, the temperature decreases by around one order of magnitude. This technique could be used in high precision measurement such as atomic clocks and atom interferometer. It could also serve as a precooling means before evaporation cooling in a dipole trap, and may be a promising method of achieving quantum degeneracy with purely optical means.

Trapping and Cooling of Single Atoms in an Optical Microcavity by a Magic-Wavelength Dipole Trap

We present trapping and cooling of single cesium atoms inside a microcavity by means of an intracavity far-off- resonance trap （FORT）. By the ＇magic＇ wavelength FORT, we achieve state-insensitive single-atom trapping and cooling in a microeavity. The cavity transmission of the probe beam strongly coupled to single atoms enables us to continuously observe the intracavity atom trapping. The average atomic localization time inside the bright FORT is about 7ms by introducing cavity cooling with appropriate detuning. This experiment presents great potential in coherent state manipulation for strongly coupled atom photon systems in the context of cavity quantum electrodynamics.

Enhanced optical molasses cooling for Cs atoms with largely detuned cooling lasers

We report a detailed study of the enhanced optical molasses cooling of Cs atoms,whose large hyperfine structure allows to use the largely red-detuned cooling lasers.We find that the combination of a large frequency detuning of about-110 MHz for the cooling laser and a suitable control for the powers of the cooling and repumping lasers allows to reach a cold temperature of^5.5μK.We obtain 5.1×10^7 atoms with the number density around 1×10^12 cm^-3.Our result gains a lower temperature than that got in other experiments,in which the cold Cs atoms with the temperature of^10μK have been achieved by the optical molasses cooling.

Clock-transition spectrum of ^(171)Yb atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice

An optical atomic clock with 171yb atoms is devised and tested. By using a two-stage Doppler cooling technique, the 171Yb atoms are cooled down to a temperature of 6 ± 3 μK, which is close to the Doppler limit. Then, the cold 171Yb atoms are loaded into a one-dimensional optical lattice with a wavelength of 759 nm in the Lamb-Dicke regime. Furthermore, these cold 171yb atoms are excited from the ground-state 1S0 to the excited-state 3P0 by a clock laser with a wavelength of 578 nm. Finally, the 1S0-3P0 clock-transition spectrum of these 171yb atoms is obtained by measuring the dependence of the population of the ground-state 1 S0 upon the clock-laser detuning.

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 6.5μK to less than 0.8μK in the trap depth of 24μK,corresponding to an average axial motional quantum number<nz><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.

Dark state atoms trapping in a magic-wavelength optical lattice near the nanofiber surface

We report the experimental realization of dark state atoms trapping in a nanofiber optical lattice.By applying the magicwavelength trapping potentials of cesium atoms,the AC Stark shifts are strongly suppressed.The dark magneto-optical trap efficiently transfers the cold atoms from bright (6S_(1/2),F=4) into dark state (6S_(1/2),F=3) for hyperfine energy levels of cesium atoms.The observed transfer efficiency is as high as 98%via saturation measurement.The trapping lifetime of dark state atoms trapped by a nanofiber optical lattice is also investigated,which is the key element for realizing optical storage.This work contributes to the manipulation of atomic electric dipole spin waves and quantum information storage for fiber networks.

Optical forces on neutral atoms in the presence of fluctuating laser fields:numerical analysis

Doppler cooling of^(88)Sr atoms is studied in the presence of off-resonant red-detuned fluctuating laser fields.Using a semi-classical approach,we show that the relevant physical quantities in the cooling process,such as optical forces,the damping coefficient,Doppler temperature,and atom number in the trap,are strongly affected by the laser amplitude and phase fluctuations.We find that the Doppler cooling limit is higher than the predicted Doppler theory for non-fluctuating lasers.This implies an additional heating mechanism exists due to the laser fluctuations.Furthermore,our numerical analysis shows that the effect of laser power stability on reducing the number of trapped atoms in a magneto-optical trap is more substantial than the effect of laser linewidth.

Characterizing optical dipole trap via fluorescence of trapped cesium atoms

Optical dipole trap(ODT)is becoming an important tool of manipulating neu-tral atoms.In this paper ODT is realized with a far-off resonant laser beam strongly fo-cused in the magneto-optical trap(MOT)of cesium atoms.The light shift is measured by simply monitoring the fluorescence of the atoms in the magneto-optical trap and the opti-cal dipole trap simultaneously.The advantages of our experimental scheme are discussed,and the effect of the beam waist and power on the potential of dipole trap as well as heating rate is analyzed.

基于二维磁光阱的增强型^(199)Hg冷原子团制备

在精密测量领域中,高效地制备冷原子团具有重要的意义.在光晶格钟里,缩短冷原子团的制备时间可以降低Dick噪声,从而提高光晶格钟的稳定性.本文采用二维磁光阱加推送光的构型提高了三维磁光阱在超高真空环境中的装载率,并通过压缩磁光阱技术降低了原子团温度,实现了用于^(199)Hg光晶格钟的增强型冷原子团制备.实验上通过优化三维和二维磁光阱的失谐量和磁场梯度以及推送光的失谐量和功率等参数,将三维磁光阱的^(199)Hg冷原子装载率增强了51倍,提升至3.1×10^(5)s^(–1),然后使用压缩磁光阱技术将^(199)Hg冷原子团的温度降低至45μK,低于多普勒冷却理论温度.这种基于二维磁光阱的增强型冷原子团制备可在超真空环境下实现对三维磁光阱装载率的高增益,有效地缩短了冷原子团的制备时间,同时也降低了原子团的温度,有利于提高光晶格的转移效率,为其他冷原子实验中冷汞原子团制备提供了有效方案.

磁光阱技术研究现状及发展趋势

磁光阱(MOT)作为激光冷却和陷俘原子的主要手段,在现代原子物理领域有着广泛应用。通过一对反亥姆霍兹线圈形成的磁阱和六束对射正交激光形成的光阱,将原子的温度冷却到接近绝对零度,可在很大程度上抑制原子的多普勒效应与碰撞效应带来的影响。相比于以热原子为工作介质的精密测量仪器,利用MOT技术研制的冷原子钟、冷原子干涉仪、冷原子加速度计等在性能上有大幅提升。阐述了MOT的基本原理及关键技术,综述了国内外MOT技术发展现状以及近年来在MOT性能提升方面开展的相关研究工作,分析总结了MOT技术发展趋势,主要包括小型化与微型化、大通量与高装载率以及参数智能优化等方面。

A cold ^(87)Rb atomic beam

We demonstrate an experimental setup for the production of a beam source of cold 87Rb atoms. The atoms are extracted from a trapped cold atomic cloud in an unbalanced three-dimensional magneto-optical trap. Via a radiation pressure difference generated by a specially designed leak tunnel along one trapping laser beam, the atoms are pushed out continuously with low velocities and a high flux. The most-probable velocity in the beam is varied from 9 m/s to 19 m/s by varying the detuning of the trapping laser beams in the magneto-optical trap and the flux can be tuned up to 4× 10^9 s-1 by increasing the intensity of the trapping beams. We also present a simple model for describing the dependence of the beam performance on the magneto optical trap trapping laser intensity and the detuning.

基于玻色凝聚^(87)Rb原子气体相位Ramsey干涉的磁场探测

基于玻色凝聚原子气体的磁场探测可兼顾高灵敏度和高空间分辨率.利用一维光晶格中玻色凝聚^(87)Rb原子气体F=1,m_(F)=1→F=2,m_(F)=-1(F为原子总角动量的量子数,m_(F)为F能级的磁量子数)的双光子跃迁,已实现基于相位Ramsey干涉的精密磁场探测.本研究利用交叉光阱中玻色凝聚^(87)Rb原子气体F=1,m_(F)=1→F=2,m_(F)=0的单光子跃迁,实验研究了频域Ramsey干涉、时域Ramsey干涉及相位Ramsey干涉,并基于相位Ramsey干涉评估了静态磁场测量的灵敏度和空间分辨率.通过对比上述3种Ramsey干涉的实验结果,发现相位Ramsey干涉可有效避免频域Ramsey干涉条纹的畸变和时域Ramsey干涉的退相干效应,从而提高静态磁场测量的灵敏度和准确度.在无磁屏蔽环境中,利用体积为(1.31±0.03)×10^(-9)cm^(3)的玻色凝聚^(87)Rb原子气体,获得了130 nT/√Hz的灵敏度,通过压缩原子气体制备时间和提高信号积累时间,灵敏度有望得到进一步提升.

Efficient fluorescence detection of a single neutral atom with low background in a microscopic optical dipole trap

A single cesium atom is trapped in a far-off-resonance optical dipole trap （FORT） from the magneto-optical trap （MOT） and directly imaged by using a charge-coupled device （CCD） camera. The binary single-atom steps and photon anti-bunching are observed by a photon-counting-based HBT system using fluorescence light. The average atom dwelling time in the FORT is about 9 s. To reduce the background noise in the detection procedure we employ a weak probe laser tuned to the D1 line to il- lurninate the single atom from the direction perpendicular to the large-numerical-aperture collimation system. The second or- der degree of coherence g（2）（r）=0.12_＋0.02 is obtained directly from the fluorescence light of the single atom without deducting the background. The background light has been suppressed to 10 counts per 50 ms, which is much lower compared with the reported results. The measured g（2）（r） is in good agreement with theoretical analysis. The system provides a simple and effi- cient method to manipulate and measure single neutral atoms, and opens a way to create an efficient controlled single-photon source.

Efficient cold atom source from a single-layer atom chip

We developed a new single-layer atom chip with an additional U-shaped current-carrying structure.The new U-shaped microwire creates optimized magnetic field distribution,which increases the trapping volume of a magneto-optical trap(MOT) near the chip.Our approach allows one to localize more atoms,while a setup remains relatively simple (single-layer approach) and consumes low current (up to 10 A). The total number of trapped^(87)Rb atoms in our setup is 5×10^(7).

采用强聚焦光学系统实现原子操控的一种方案

采用光学手段操控原子是研究原子之间纠缠、控制其相互作用的重要途径,也是量子信息研究中的重要课题。本文基于目前的实验系统,提出了利用由三组驻波场组成的强聚焦光学系统产生间距可控的光学晶格,并在此基础上实现多光学偶极阱的一种方案。我们系统地讨论了两驻波场与第三驻波场的夹角和相对位相对光学阱分布的影响,指出在此基础上可以在一定程度上通过微光学阱实现单个原子的操控并实现偶极阱间距的可控调节。该结果对研究光学晶格中的BEC之间的作用、原子干涉以及原子之间偶极-偶极作用等具有重要意义。

激光冷却囚禁亚稳态氪原子同位素

高效率地冷却和囚禁亚稳态惰性元素原子,可用以研究冷原子间的相互作用,以及通过对放射性同位素的检测实现样品年代测定.本文主要介绍在中国科学技术大学建设的激光冷却氪同位素原子实验装置.目前,我们利用这一装置已经成功地将氪原子的各个稳定同位素进行了激光冷却和囚禁,获得了高浓度的亚稳态冷原子团,并且有望进一步提高装载速率等重要指标,以达到高效率检测应用的需要.