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arXiv:0905.1094 · Physical Review A

Coherent control of atomic transport in spinor optical lattices

Brian Mischuck, Ivan Deutsch, Poul Jessen

Published Feb 4, 2010• 13 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Coherent transport of atoms trapped in an optical lattice can be controlled by microwave-induced spin flips that correlate with site-to-site hopping. We study the controllability of homogeneous one-dimensional systems of noninteracting atoms in the absence of site addressability. Given these restrictions, we construct a deterministic protocol to map an initially localized Wannier state to a wave packet that is coherently distributed over $n$ sites. As an example, we consider a one dimensional quantum walk in the presence of both realistic photon scattering and inhomogeneous broadening of the microwave transition due to the optical lattice. Using composite pulses to suppress errors, fidelities of over $95%$ can be achieved for a 25-step walk. We extend the protocol for state preparation to analytic solutions for arbitrary unitary maps given homogeneous systems and in the presence of time-dependent uniform forces. Such control is important for applications in quantum information processing, such as quantum computing and quantum simulations of condensed matter phenomena.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.81.023403

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Coherent transport of atoms trapped in an optical lattice can be controlled by microwave-induced spin flips that correlate with site-to-site hopping. We study the controllability of homogeneous one-dimensional systems of noninteracting atoms in the absence of site addressability. Given these restrictions, we construct a deterministic protocol to map an initially localized Wannier state to a wave packet that is coherently distributed over nnn sites. As an example, we consider a one dimensional quantum walk in the presence of both realistic photon scattering and inhomogeneous broadening of the microwave transition due to the optical lattice. Using composite pulses to suppress errors, fidelities of over 9595%95 can be achieved for a 25-step walk. We extend the protocol for state preparation to analytic solutions for arbitrary unitary maps given homogeneous systems and in the presence of time-dependent uniform forces. Such control is important for applications in quantum information processing, such as quantum computing and quantum simulations of condensed matter phenomena.
The present work investigates the state-selective transport of single neutral cesium atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice. It demonstrates experimental applications of this transport, including a single atom interferometer, a quantum walk and controlled two-atom collisions. The atoms are stored one by one in an optical lattice formed by a standing wave dipole trap. Their positions are determined with sub-micrometer precision, while atom pair separations are reliably inferred down to neighboring lattice sites using real-time numerical processing. Using microwave pulses in the presence of a magnetic field gradient, the internal qubit states, encoded in the hyperfine levels of the atoms, can be separately initialized and manipulated. This allows us to perform arbitrary single-qubit operations and prepare arbitrary patterns of atoms in the lattice with single-site precision. Chapter 1 presents the experimental setup for trapping a small number of cesium atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice. Chapter 2 is devoted to fluorescence imaging of atoms, discussing the imaging setup, numeric methods and their performance in detail. Chapter 3 focuses on engineering of internal states of trapped atoms in the lattice using optical methods and microwave radiation. It provides a detailed investigation of coherence properties of our experimental system. Finally manipulation of individual atoms with almost single-site resolution and preparation of regular strings of atoms with predefined distances are presented. In Chapter 4, basic concepts, the experimental realization and the performance of the state-selective transport of neutral atoms over several lattice sites are presented and discussed in detail. Coherence properties of this transport are investigated in Chapter 5, using various two-arms single atom interferometer sequences in which atomic matter waves are split, delocalized, merged and recombined on the initial lattice site, while the interference contrast and the accumulated phase difference are measured. By delocalizing a single atom over several lattice sites, possible spatial inhomogeneities of fields along the lattice axis in the trapping region are probed. In Chapter 6, experimental realization of a discrete time quantum walk on a line with single optically trapped atoms is presented as an advanced application of multiple path quantum interference in the context of quantum information processing. Using this simple example of a quantum walk, fundamental properties of and differences between the quantum and classical regimes are investigated and discussed in detail. Finally, by combining preparation of atom strings, position-dependent manipulation of qubit states and state-selective transport, in Chapter 7, two atoms are deterministically brought together into contact, forming a starting point for investigating two-atom interactions on the most fundamental level. Future prospects and suggestions are finally presented in Chapter 8.
Neutral atoms are promising candidates to store and manipulate quantum information. In this thesis we examine several problems related to the control of neutral atoms for quantum computation and simulation. In the first problem we show how the transport of atoms in an optical lattice can be controlled through variation of the polarization of the optical lattice and the application of global microwave pulses. This type of control control is a first step in many of the schemes for quantum computation and quantum simulation. We show that with the available tools for global control, the synthesis of any unitary transformation, consistent with translational invariance, may be performed and provide an explicit method for carrying this out. In the second problem, we study a spectroscopic method for probing atomic interactions that may form the basis for two-qudit quantum logic gates. The confinement of atoms required to perform quantum computation can strongly affect how they interact. Probing the nature of those confinement-induced effects is a first step towards quantum computing with neutral atoms. Transport of the atoms to overlapping wells is achieved through microwave pulses that drive population between hyperfine levels in a lin-perp-lin polarization-gradient lattice. By measuring the amount of population transferred into certain excited states, we can detect changes in the spectrum of the two-atom system induced by the interaction. In the third problem, we consider a cloud of cold atoms driven by both microwave and radio-frequency magnetic fields. The large number of spin sublevels available in individual atoms makes them candidates for a qudit-based quantum computer. Because the applied fields that drive the system may be inhomogeneous, the collection of atoms forms an ensemble of different qudits. Borrowing ideas developed for NMR control, we show how to drive the ensemble through a given evolution. We show that even in the presence of large experimental errors, state preparation may be achieved with high fidelities. We also show that intentionally applied variations in spatial magnetic fields can be used to synthesize different states in different regions of space.
Advances in the preparation and detection, but most importantly in the coherent manipulation of single neutral atoms have allowed the observation of intriguing phenomena of quantum physics in recent years. We discuss developments to prepare and detect single neutral atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice potential with single site resolution. Moreover, using two different experimental techniques, a state-dependent optical lattice potential on the one hand and a high-finesse optical cavity on the other hand, we have obtained coherent control over single neutral atoms. The former has enabled us to observe the quantum walk of atoms in position space, and to coherently control the motion of trapped atoms via microwave radiation. The latter offers a means to non-destructively detect the atomic spin state, thereby revealing quantum jumps of single atoms, or the altered optical properties of single atoms when subject to electromagnetically-induced transparency.
We demonstrate the controlled coherent transport and splitting of atomic wave packets in spin-dependent optical lattice potentials. Such experiments open intriguing possibilities for quantum state engineering of many body states. After first preparing localized atomic wave functions in an optical lattice through a Mott insulating phase, we place each atom in a superposition of two internal spin states. Then state selective optical potentials are used to split the wave function of a single atom and transport the corresponding wave packets in two opposite directions. Coherence between the wave packets of an atom delocalized over up to seven lattice sites is demonstrated.
We propose a scheme for the realization of a quantum walker and a quantum simulator for the Dirac equation with ultracold spinor atoms in driven optical lattices. A precise control of the dynamics of the atomic matter wave can be realized using time-dependent external forces. If the force depends on the spin state of the atoms, the dynamics will entangle the inner and outer degrees of freedom, which offers unique opportunities for quantum information and quantum simulation. Here we introduce a method to realize a quantum walker based on the state-dependent transport of spinor atoms and a coherent driving of the internal state. In the limit of weak driving the dynamics are equivalent to that of a Dirac particle in 1+11+11+1 dimensions. Thus it becomes possible to simulate relativistic effects such as Zitterbewegung and Klein tunneling.
We load atoms into every site of an optical lattice and selectively spin flip atoms in a sublattice consisting of every other site. These selected atoms are separated from their unselected neighbors by less than an optical wavelength. We also show spin-dependent transport, where atomic wave packets are coherently separated into adjacent sites according to their internal state. These tools should be useful for quantum information processing and quantum simulation of lattice models with neutral atoms.