Red-detuned Light Research Articles

Three-dimensional Doppler, polarization-gradient, and magneto-optical forces for atoms and molecules with dark states

We theoretically investigate the damping and trapping forces in a three-dimensional magneto-optical trap (MOT), by numerically solving the optical Bloch equations. We focus on the case where there are dark states because the atom is driven on a ‘type-II’ system where the angular momentum of the excited state, , is less than or equal to that of the ground state, F. For these systems we find that the force in a three-dimensional light field has very different behaviour to its one dimensional counterpart. This differs from the more commonly used ‘type-I’ systems () where the 1D and 3D behaviours are similar. Unlike type-I systems where, for red-detuned light, both Doppler and sub-Doppler forces damp the atomic motion towards zero velocity, in type-II systems in 3D, the Doppler force and polarization gradient force have opposite signs. As a result, the atom is driven towards a non-zero equilibrium velocity, v0, where the two forces cancel. We find that scales linearly with the intensity of the light and is fairly insensitive to the detuning from resonance. We also discover a new magneto-optical force that alters the normal MOT force at low magnetic fields and whose influence is greatest in the type-II systems. We discuss the implications of these findings for the laser cooling and magneto-optical trapping of molecules where type-II transitions are unavoidable in realising closed optical cycling transitions.

Matter wave lensing to picokelvin temperatures.

Using a matter wave lens and a long time of flight, we cool an ensemble of ^{87}Rb atoms in two dimensions to an effective temperature of less than 50_{-30}^{+50} pK. A short pulse of red-detuned light generates an optical dipole force that collimates the ensemble. We also report a three-dimensional magnetic lens that substantially reduces the chemical potential of evaporatively cooled ensembles with a high atom number. By observing such low temperatures, we set limits on proposed modifications to quantum mechanics in the macroscopic regime. These cooling techniques yield bright, collimated sources for precision atom interferometry.

Trapping of cold atoms for the hybrid system near a circular aperture with subwavelength size

We propose and analyze a scheme to generate an optical trap for cold atoms using a thin circular aperture with a radius similar to or smaller than the wavelength diffracted by a plane light in the near field. The diffracted intensity in the near field is investigated by the vector theory as well as the optical potential and van der Waals potential for 87Rb atoms are calculated in the trap. It shows that the total potential can form an attracting 3D localized trap for cold atoms with red-detuned light near the thin circular aperture below the diffraction limit. It shows that the spontaneous-emitting rate, Rayleigh and Raman scattering rates of trapped cold atoms are very small for the CO2 laser. This scheme can provide an opportunity towards the generation of the hybrid system consisting of isolated atoms and solid devices.

Isotope Separation Using Quantum Revival Phenomenon in Nanofibers

We demonstrate the separation of isotopes based on quantum revival phenomenon in nanofibers. We use an optical nanofiber carrying blue-detuned light and red-detuned light. Keeping in view the detuning of atoms with the optical fields, we create attractive and repulsive potentials around the fiber in the radial direction, which produce potential minima in the transverse plane. The wave packets of differing isotopes revive at different quantum revival times and become spatially separated.

Cold atom guidance in a capillary using blue-detuned, hollow optical modes

We demonstrate guiding of cold 85Rb atoms through a 100-micron-diameter hollow core dielectric waveguide using cylindrical hollow modes. We have transported atoms using blue-detuned light in the 1st order, azimuthally-polarized TE01 hollow mode, and the 2nd order hollow modes (HE31, EH11, and HE12), and compared these results with guidance in the red-detuned, fundamental HE11 mode. The blue-detuned hollow modes confine atoms to low intensity along the capillary axis, far from the walls. We determine scattering rates in the guides by directly measuring the effect of recoil on the atoms. We observe higher atom numbers guided using red-detuned light in the HE11 mode, but a 10-fold reduction in scattering rate using the 2nd order modes, which have an r4 radial intensity profile to lowest order. We show that the red-detuned guides can be used to load atoms into the blue-detuned modes when both high atom number and low perturbation are desired.

Decelerating a pulsed subsonic molecular beam by a quasi-cw traveling optical lattice

We propose a promising scheme to realize the deceleration of a pulsed subsonic molecular beam by using a multistage optical Stark decelerator (i.e., a 1D quasi-cw traveling optical lattice), which is composed of two nearly counter-propagating, time-varying, red-detuned light fields with an intensity of ~10⁷Wcm⁻² and a fixed frequency difference between them. We also study the influence of the velocity reduced amount of the traveling lattice, the lattice power, the synchronous phase angle, the deceleration-stage number and the temporal profile of laser pulses on the molecular slowing results by using 3D Monte-Carlo method. Our study shows that the proposed decelerator cannot only be used to slow a pulsed subsonic beam from 240m/s to standstill, but also to obtain a cold molecular packet with a temperature of a few µK, and the corresponding fraction of cold molecules is 10⁻⁶-10⁻⁷, which strongly depends on the synchronous phase angle. And we also find that a pair of appropriate rising and falling times of laser pulses will lead to a better slowing effect than that produced by the top-hat temporal ones.

Observation of a Red-Blue Detuning Asymmetry in Matter-Wave Superradiance

We report the first experimental observation of strong suppression of matter-wave superradiance using blue-detuned pump light and demonstrate a pump-laser detuning asymmetry in the collective atomic recoil motion. In contrast to all previous theoretical frameworks, which predict that the process should be symmetric with respect to the sign of the detuning of the pump laser from the one-photon resonance, we find that for condensates the symmetry is broken. With high condensate densities and red-detuned pump light the distinctive multiorder, matter-wave scattering pattern is clearly visible, whereas with blue-detuned pump light superradiance is strongly suppressed. However, in the limit of a dilute atomic gas symmetry is restored.

Momentum Exchange between Light and a Single Atom: Abraham or Minkowski?

We consider forces on an atom due to a plane-wave light pulse. The standard view of the optical dipole force indicates that red-detuned light should attract the atom towards high intensity. While the atom is inside the pulse, this would increase the average momentum per photon from p_{0} to p_{0}n, where n is the average refractive index due to the presence of the atom. We show, however, that this is the wrong conclusion and that the dispersive forces repel the atom from the light in this particular case, giving the photons a momentum p_{0}/n. This leads us to identify Abraham's optical momentum with the kinetic momentum transfer. The form due to Minkowski is similarly associated with the canonical momentum. We consider the possibility of demonstrating this in the laboratory, and we note an unexpected connection with the Aharonov-Casher effect.

利用微纳光纤倏逝场实现的双色原子波导和一维光学晶格

We propose a two-color scheme of atom waveguides and one-dimensional (1D) optical lattices using evanescent wave fields of different transverse modes around an optical micro/nano-fiber. The atom guide potential can be produced when the optical fiber carries a red-detuned light with TE01 mode and a blue-detuned light with HE11 mode, and the 1D optical lattice potential can be produced when the red-detuned light is transformed to the superposition of the TE01 mode and HE11 mode. The two trapping potentials can be transformed to each other for accurately controlling mode transformation for the red-detuned light. This might provide a new approach to realize flexible transition between the guiding and trapping states of atoms.

Two-colour atom guide and 1D optical lattice using evanescent fields of high-order transverse modes

We propose a two-colour scheme of atom guide and 1D optical lattice using evanescent light fields of TE00 and TE01 transverse modes in an optical waveguide. The optical waveguide carries red-detuned light and blue-detuned light, with both modes far from resonance. The atom guide and 1D optical lattice potentials can be transformed to each other by using a Mach–Zehnder interferometer to accurately control mode transformation. This might provide a new approach to realize flexible transition between the guiding and trapping states of atoms.

Optical ferris wheel for ultracold atoms

We propose a versatile optical ring lattice suitable for trapping cold and quantum degenerate atomic samples. We demonstrate the realisation of intensity patterns from pairs of Laguerre-Gauss (exp(i??) modes with different ? indices. These patterns can be rotated by introducing a frequency shift between the modes. We can generate bright ring lattices for trapping atoms in red-detuned light, and dark ring lattices suitable for trapping atoms with minimal heating in the optical vortices of blue-detuned light. The lattice sites can be joined to form a uniform ring trap, making it ideal for studying persistent currents and the Mott insulator transition in a ring geometry.

Atom trap and waveguide using a two-color evanescent light field around a subwavelength-diameter optical fiber

We suggest using a two-color evanescent light field around a subwavelength-diameter fiber to trap and guide atoms. The optical fiber carries a red-detuned light and a blue-detuned light, with both modes far from resonance. When both input light fields are circularly polarized, a set of trapping minima of the total potential in the transverse plane is formed as a ring around the fiber. This design allows confinement of atoms to a cylindrical shell around the fiber. When one or both of the input light fields are linearly polarized, the total potential has two local minimum points in the transverse plane. This design allows confinement of atoms to two straight lines parallel to the fiber axis. Due to the thin thickness of the fiber, we can use far-off-resonance fields with substantially differing evanescent decay lengths to produce a net potential with a large depth, a large coherence time, and a large trap lifetime. For example, a 0.2-$\mu$m-radius silica fiber carrying 30 mW of 1.06-$\mu$m-wavelength light and 29 mW of 700-nm-wavelength light, both fields are circularly polarized at the input, gives for cesium atoms a trap depth of 2.9 mK, a coherence time of 32 ms, and a recoil-heating-limited trap lifetime of 541 s.

Substrate-based atom waveguide using guided two-color evanescent light fields

We propose a dipole-force linear waveguide which confines neutral atoms up to lambda/2 above a microfabricated single-mode dielectric optical guide. The optical guide carries far blue-detuned light in the horizontally-polarized TE mode and far red-detuned light in the vertically-polarized TM mode, with both modes close to optical cut-off. A trapping minimum in the transverse plane is formed above the optical guide due to the differing evanescent decay lengths of the two modes. This design allows manufacture of mechanically stable atom-optical elements on a substrate. We calculate the full vector bound modes for an arbitrary guide shape using two-dimensional non-uniform finite elements in the frequency-domain, allowing us to optimize atom waveguide properties. We find that a rectangular optical guide of 0.8um by 0.2um carrying 6mW of total laser power (detuning +-15nm about the D2 line) gives a trap depth of 200uK for cesium atoms (m_F = 0), transverse oscillation frequencies of f_x = 40kHz and f_y = 160kHz, collection area ~ 1um^2 and coherence time of 9ms. We discuss the effects of non-zero m_F, surface interactions, heating rate, the substrate refractive index, and the limits on waveguide bending radius.