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arXiv:0912.3233 · Physical Review A

Theory of magic optical traps for Zeeman-insensitive clock transitions in alkali-metal atoms

Andrei Derevianko

Published May 20, 2010• 45 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Precision measurements and quantum-information processing with cold atoms may benefit from trapping atoms with specially engineered, ``magic'' optical fields. At the magic trapping conditions, the relevant atomic properties remain immune to strong perturbations by the trapping fields. Here we develop a theoretical analysis of magic trapping for especially valuable Zeeman-insensitive clock transitions in alkali-metal atoms. The involved mechanism relies on applying a magic bias $B$ field along a circularly polarized trapping laser field. We map out these $B$ fields as a function of trapping laser wavelength for all commonly used alkalis. We also highlight a common error in evaluating Stark shifts of hyperfine manifolds.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.81.051606

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Precision measurements and quantum-information processing with cold atoms may benefit from trapping atoms with specially engineered, ``magic'' optical fields. At the magic trapping conditions, the relevant atomic properties remain immune to strong perturbations by the trapping fields. Here we develop a theoretical analysis of magic trapping for especially valuable Zeeman-insensitive clock transitions in alkali-metal atoms. The involved mechanism relies on applying a magic bias BBB field along a circularly polarized trapping laser field. We map out these BBB fields as a function of trapping laser wavelength for all commonly used alkalis. We also highlight a common error in evaluating Stark shifts of hyperfine manifolds.
In experiments with trapped atoms, atomic energy levels are shifted by the trapping optical and magnetic fields. Regardless of this strong perturbation, precision spectroscopy may be still carried out using specially crafted, "magic" trapping fields. Finding these conditions for particularly valuable microwave transitions in alkali-metal atoms has so far remained an open challenge. Here I demonstrate that the microwave transitions in alkali-metal atoms may be indeed made impervious to both trapping laser intensity and fluctuations of magnetic fields. I consider driving multiphoton transitions between the clock levels and show that these "doubly magic" conditions are realized at special values of trapping laser wavelengths and fixed values of relatively weak magnetic fields. This finding has implications for precision measurements and quantum information processing with qubits stored in hyperfine manifolds.
We demonstrate that the differential ac-Stark shift of a Zeeman-sensitive ground hyperfine transition in an optical trap can be eliminated by using properly polarized trapping light. We use the vector polarizability of an alkali-metal atom to produce a polarization-dependent ac-Stark shift that resembles a Zeeman shift. We study a transition from the $|2{S}_{1/2},F=2,{m}_{F}=\ensuremath{-}2⟩$ to the $|2{S}_{1/2},F=1,{m}_{F}=\ensuremath{-}1⟩$ state of 7Li^{7}\mathrm{Li}7Li to observe $0.59\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.02\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{Hz}$ linewidth with interrogation time of 2 s and $0.82\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.06\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{s}$ coherence time of a superposition state. Implications of the narrow linewidth and the long coherence time for precision spectroscopy and quantum information processing using atoms in an optical lattice are discussed.
We present additional magic wavelengths (${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{magic}}$) for the clock transitions in the alkaline-earth-metal ions, considering circular polarized light, aside from our previously reported values [Kaur et al., Phys. Rev. A 92, 031402(R) (2015)] for linearly polarized light. Contributions from the vector component to the dynamic dipole polarizabilities $[{\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{d}(\ensuremath{\omega})]$ of the atomic states associated with the clock transitions play major roles in the evaluation of these ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{magic}}$, hence facilitating choosing circular polarization of lasers in the experiments. Moreover, the actual clock transitions in these ions are carried out among the hyperfine levels. The ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{magic}}$ values in these hyperfine transitions are estimated and found to be different from ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{magic}}$ for the atomic transitions due to different contributions coming from the vector and tensor parts of ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{d}(\ensuremath{\omega})$. Importantly, we also present ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{magic}}$ values that depend only on the scalar component of ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{d}(\ensuremath{\omega})$ for their uses in a specially designed trap geometry for these ions so that they can be used unambiguously among any hyperfine levels of the atomic states of the clock transitions. We also present ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{d}(\ensuremath{\omega})$ values explicitly at 1064 nm for the atomic states associated with the clock transitions, which may be useful for creating high-field-seeking traps for the above ions using the Nd:YAG laser. The tune-out wavelengths at which the states would be free from the Stark shifts are also presented. Accurate values of the electric dipole matrix elements required for these studies are given and trends of electron correlation effects in determining them are also highlighted.
We demonstrate the cancellation of the differential ac Stark shift of the microwave hyperfine clock transition in trapped 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb atoms. Recent progress in metrology exploits so-called magic wavelengths, whereby an atomic ensemble can be trapped with laser light whose wavelength is chosen so that both levels of an optical atomic transition experience identical ac Stark shifts. Similar magic-wavelength techniques are not possible for the microwave hyperfine transitions in the alkali metals due to their simple electronic structure. We show, however, that ac Stark shift cancellation is indeed achievable for certain values of wavelength, polarization, and magnetic field. The cancellation comes at the expense of a small magnetic-field sensitivity. The technique demonstrated here has implications for experiments involving the precise control of optically trapped neutral atoms.
We demonstrate the cancellation of the differential ac Stark shift of the microwave hyperfine clock transition in trapped 87 Rb atoms. Recent progress in metrology exploits so-called “magic wavelengths,” whereby an atomic ensemble can be trapped with laser light whose wavelength is chosen so that both levels of an optical atomic transition experience identical ac Stark shifts. Similar magic-wavelength techniques are not possible for the microwave hyperfine transitions in the alkalis, due to their simple electronic structure. We show, however, that ac Stark shift cancellation is indeed achievable for certain values of wavelength, polarization, and magnetic field. The cancellation comes at the expense of a small magnetic-field sensitivity. The technique demonstrated here has implications for experiments involving the precise control of optically-trapped neutral atoms.
Magic wavelengths for the Li, Na, and K alkali-metal atoms are determined using the circularly polarized light for the nsnsns-np1/2,3/2n{p}_{1/2,3/2}np1/2,3/2​ transitions, with nnn denoting their ground-state principal quantum numbers, by studying their differential ac dynamic polarizabilities. These wavelengths for all possible sublevels are given linearly as well as circularly polarized lights and are further compared with the available results for the linearly polarized light. The present study suggests that it is possible to carry out state-insensitive trapping of different alkali-metal atoms using the circularly polarized light.