Abstract
We experimentally realize an enhanced Raman control scheme for neutral atoms that features an intrinsic suppression of the two-photon carrier transition, but retains the sidebands which couple to the external degrees of freedom of the trapped atoms. This is achieved by trapping the atom at the node of a blue detuned standing wave dipole trap, that acts as one field for the two-photon Raman coupling. The improved ratio between cooling and heating processes in this configuration enables a five times lower fundamental temperature limit for resolved sideband cooling. We apply this method to perform Raman cooling to the two-dimensional vibrational ground state and to coherently manipulate the atomic motion. The presented scheme requires minimal additional resources and can be applied to experiments with challenging optical access, as we demonstrate by our implementation for atoms strongly coupled to an optical cavity.
Highlights
We experimentally realize an enhanced Raman control scheme for neutral atoms that features an intrinsic suppression of the two-photon carrier transition, but retains the sidebands which couple to the external degrees of freedom of the trapped atoms
Trapped single atoms and atomic ensembles represent a versatile platform for the investigation and application of quantum physics with an extraordinary level of control
The manipulation of the quantum states of localized neutral atoms has in recent years formed the basis for fundamental studies of quantum mechanics [1, 2], high precision metrology [3] and the implementation of quantum information [4, 5] and quantum simulation protocols [6]
Summary
Trapped single atoms and atomic ensembles represent a versatile platform for the investigation and application of quantum physics with an extraordinary level of control. The manipulation of the quantum states of localized neutral atoms has in recent years formed the basis for fundamental studies of quantum mechanics [1, 2], high precision metrology [3] and the implementation of quantum information [4, 5] and quantum simulation protocols [6]. Crucial to many of these and future experiments is the capability to efficiently control the motional degree of freedom of the atoms. In order to localize and prepare neutral atoms with high probability in their motional ground states two different approaches exist. The need for collisional thermalization and the inherent particle loss, result in long preparation times and can limit the measurement duty cycle
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