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arXiv:1107.3375 · Physical Review A

Spatial Pauli blocking of spontaneous emission in optical lattices

R. M. Sandner, Markus Müller, Andrew J. Daley, P. Zoller

Published Oct 14, 2011• 25 citations
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Abstract

Spontaneous emission by an excited fermionic atom can be suppressed due to the Pauli exclusion principle if the relevant final states after the decay are already occupied by identical atoms in the ground state. Here we discuss a setup where a single atom is prepared in the first excited state on a single site of an optical lattice under conditions of very tight trapping. We investigate these phenomena in the context of two experimental realizations: (1) with alkali-metal atoms, where the decay rate of the excited state is large, and (2) with alkaline-earth-metal-like atoms, where the decay rate from metastable states can be tuned in experiments. This phenomenon has potential applications towards reservoir engineering and dissipative many-body state preparation in an optical lattice.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.84.043825

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Light scattering from a neutral Fermi gas can be suppressed by occupation of the final states accessible to a recoiling atom. A related effect, Pauli blocking of spontaneous emission by a single excited-state atom, has been predicted to be dramatic at low temperature when the Fermi energy EF exceeds the recoil energy ER. However suppression of light scattering from a large ground-state ensemble is diminished by scattering events near unoccupied states. We analyze two possible methods of enhancement: using a focused light beam to excite only the high-density region of the cloud, and Raman scattering between imbalanced internal states. We find that focusing can enhance suppression by 14 % of the unblocked scattering rate, and that Raman scattering can yield a full suppression at low temperature for EF> 4ER, even in the inhomogeneous gas. ‡ Present address: Lyman Laboratories, Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138, USAEnhanced Pauli blocking of light scattering in a trapped Fermi gas 2 1.

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Spontaneous emission by an excited fermionic atom can be suppressed due to the Pauli exclusion principle if the relevant final states after the decay are already occupied by identical atoms in the ground state. Here we discuss a setup where a single atom is prepared in the first excited state on a single site of an optical lattice under conditions of very tight trapping. We investigate these phenomena in the context of two experimental realizations: (1) with alkali-metal atoms, where the decay rate of the excited state is large, and (2) with alkaline-earth-metal-like atoms, where the decay rate from metastable states can be tuned in experiments. This phenomenon has potential applications towards reservoir engineering and dissipative many-body state preparation in an optical lattice.
Pauli blocking of spontaneous emission is responsible for the stability of atoms. Electrons cannot decay to lower-lying internal states that are already occupied. Pauli blocking also occurs when free atoms scatter light elastically (Rayleigh scattering) and the final external momentum states are already populated. This was predicted more than 30 years ago but is challenging to realize experimentally. Here, we report on Pauli blocking of light scattering in a dense quantum-degenerate Fermi gas of ultracold lithium atoms. When the Fermi momentum is larger than the photon recoil, most final momentum states are within the Fermi surface. At low temperature, we find that light scattered even at large angles is suppressed by 37% compared with higher temperatures, where atoms scatter at the single-atom Rayleigh scattering rate.
Pauli blocking of spontaneous emission by a single excited-state atom has been predicted to be dramatic at low temperature when the Fermi energy E F exceeds the recoil energy E R . The photon scattering rate of a ground-state Fermi gas can also be suppressed by occupation of the final states accessible to a recoiling atom; however, suppression is diminished by scattering events near the Fermi edge. We analyse two new approaches to improve the visibility of Pauli blocking in a trapped Fermi gas. Focusing the incident light to excite preferentially the high-density region of the cloud can increase the blocking signature by 14%, and is most effective at intermediate temperature. Spontaneous Raman scattering between imbalanced internal states can be strongly suppressed at low temperature, and is completely blocked for a final state E F > 4 E R in the high imbalance limit.
Abstract The Pauli exclusion principle in quantum mechanics has a profound influence on the structure of matter and on interactions between fermions. Almost 30 years ago it was predicted that the Pauli exclusion principle could lead to a suppression of spontaneous emission, and only recently several experiments confirmed this phenomenon. Here we report that this so-called Pauli blockade not only affects incoherent processes but also, more generally, coherently driven systems. It manifests itself as an intriguing sub-Doppler narrowing of a doubly-forbidden transition profile in an optically trapped Fermi gas of 3 He. By actively pumping atoms out of the excited state, we break the coherence of the excitation and lift the narrowing effect, confirming the influence of Pauli blockade on the transition profile. This insight into the interplay between quantum statistics and coherent driving is a promising development for future applications involving fermionic systems.
We discuss the preparation of many-body states of cold fermionic atoms in an optical lattice via controlled dissipative processes induced by coupling the system to a reservoir. Based on a mechanism combining Pauli blocking and phase locking between adjacent sites, we construct complete sets of jump operators describing coupling to a reservoir that leads to dissipative preparation of pairing states for fermions with various symmetries in the absence of direct inter-particle interactions. We discuss the uniqueness of these states, and demonstrate it with small-scale numerical simulations. In the late-time dissipative dynamics, we identify a 'dissipative gap' that persists in the thermodynamic limit. This gap implies exponential convergence of all many-body observables to their steady-state values. We then investigate how these pairing states can be used as a starting point for the preparation of the ground state of the Fermi–Hubbard Hamiltonian via an adiabatic state preparation process also involving the parent Hamiltonian of the pairing state. We also provide a proof-of-principle example for implementing these dissipative processes and the parent Hamiltonians of the pairing states, based on 171 Yb atoms in optical lattice potentials.
A technique is proposed to cool Fermi gases to the regime of quantum degeneracy based on the expected inhibition of spontaneous emission due to the Pauli principle. The reduction of the linewidth for spontaneous emission originates a corresponding reduction of the Doppler temperature, which under specific conditions may give rise to a runaway process through which fermions are progressively cooled. The approach requires a combination of a magneto-optical trap as a cooling system and an optical dipole trap to enhance quantum degeneracy. This results in expected Fermi degeneracy factors T/TFT/{T}_{F}T/TF​ comparable to the lowest values recently achieved, with potential for a direct implementation in optical lattices. The experimental demonstration of this technique should also indirectly provide a macroscopic manifestation of the Pauli exclusion principle at the atomic physics level.
Light scattering from a neutral Fermi gas can be suppressed by occupation of the final states accessible to a recoiling atom. A related effect, Pauli blocking of spontaneous emission by a single excited-state atom, has been predicted to be dramatic at low temperature when the Fermi energy EF exceeds the recoil energy ER. However suppression of light scattering from a large ground-state ensemble is diminished by scattering events near unoccupied states. We analyze two possible methods of enhancement: using a focused light beam to excite only the high-density region of the cloud, and Raman scattering between imbalanced internal states. We find that focusing can enhance suppression by 14 % of the unblocked scattering rate, and that Raman scattering can yield a full suppression at low temperature for EF> 4ER, even in the inhomogeneous gas. ‡ Present address: Lyman Laboratories, Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138, USAEnhanced Pauli blocking of light scattering in a trapped Fermi gas 2 1.