We describe a compact, robust and versatile system for studying the macroscopic spin dynamics in a spinor Bose–Einstein condensate. Condensates of are produced by all-optical evaporation in a 1560 nm optical dipole trap, using a non-standard loading sequence that employs an ancillary 1529 nm beam for partial compensation of the strong differential light-shift induced by the dipole trap itself. We use near-resonant Faraday rotation probing to non-destructively track the condensate magnetization, and demonstrate few-Larmor-cycle tracking with no detectable degradation of the spin polarization. In the ferromagnetic F = 1 ground state, we observe the spin orientation between atoms in the condensate is preserved, such that they precess all together like one large spin in the presence of a magnetic field. We characterize this dynamics in terms of the single-shot magnetic coherence times and , and observe them to be of several seconds, limited only by the residence time of the atoms in the trap. At the densities used, this residence is restricted only by one-body losses set by the vacuum conditions.
We describe a compact, robust and versatile system for studying the macroscopic spin dynamics in a spinor Bose–Einstein condensate. Condensates of are produced by all-optical evaporation in a 1560 nm optical dipole trap, using a non-standard loading sequence that employs an ancillary 1529 nm beam for partial compensation of the strong differential light-shift induced by the dipole trap itself. We use near-resonant Faraday rotation probing to non-destructively track the condensate magnetization, and demonstrate few-Larmor-cycle tracking with no detectable degradation of the spin polarization. In the ferromagnetic F = 1 ground state, we observe the spin orientation between atoms in the condensate is preserved, such that they precess all together like one large spin in the presence of a magnetic field. We characterize this dynamics in terms of the single-shot magnetic coherence times and , and observe them to be of several seconds, limited only by the residence time of the atoms in the trap. At the densities used, this residence is restricted only by one-body losses set by the vacuum conditions.
Optical trapping as a viable means of exploring the physics of ultracold dilute atomic gases has revealed a new spectrum of physical phenomena. In particular, macroscopic and sudden occupation of the ground state below a critical temperature—-a phenomenon known as Bose-Einstein condensation—-has become an even richer system for the study of quantum mechanics, ultracold collisions, and many-body physics in general. Optical trapping liberates the spin degree of the BEC, making the order parameter vectorial (‘spinor BEC’), as opposed to the scalar order of traditional magnetically trapped condensates. The work described within is divided into two main efforts. The first encompasses the all-optical creation of a Bose-Einstein condensate in rubidium vapor. An all-optical path to spinor BEC (as opposed to transfer to an optical trap from a magnetic-trap condensate) was desired both for the simplicity of the experimental setup and also for the potential gains in speed of creation; evaporative cooling, the only known path to dilute-gas condensation, works only as efficiently as the rate of elastic collisions in the gas, a rate that starts out much higher in optical traps. The first all-optical BEC was formed elsewhere in 2001; the years following saw many groups worldwide seeking to create their own version. Our own all-optical spinor BEC, made with a single-beam dipole trap formed by a focused CO₂ laser, is described here, with particular attention paid to trap loading, measurement of trap parameters, and the use of a novel 780 nm high-power laser system. The second part describes initial experiments performed with the nascent condensate. The spinor properties of the condensate are documented, and a measurement is made of the density-dependent rate of spin mixing in the condensate. In addition, we demonstrate a novel dual-beam atom laser formed by outcoupling oppositely polarized components of the condensate, whose populations have been coherently evolved through spin dynamics. We drive coherent spin-mixing evolution through adiabatic compression of the initially weak trap. Such dual beams, nominally number-correlated through the angular momentum-conserving collision m=0 + m=0 ⇌ m=+1 + m=-1 have been proposed as tools to explore entanglement and squeezing in Bose-Einstein condensates.
We describe a dispersive Faraday optical probe of atomic spin which performs a weak measurement of spin projection of a quantum gas continuously for more than one second. To date, focusing bright far-off-resonance probes onto quantum gases has proved invasive due to strong scalar and vector light shifts exerting dipole and Stern-Gerlach forces. We show that tuning the probe near the magic-zero wavelength at 790 nm between the fine-structure doublet of 87Rb cancels the scalar light shift, and careful control of polarization eliminates the vector light shift. Faraday rotations due to each fine-structure line reinforce at this wavelength, enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio for a fixed rate of probe-induced decoherence. Using this minimally invasive spin probe, we perform microscale atomic magnetometry at high temporal resolution. Spectrogram analysis of the Larmor precession signal of a single spinor Bose-Einstein condensate measures a time-varying magnetic field strength with 1 $\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{G}$ accuracy every 5 ms; or, equivalently, makes more than 200 successive measurements each at 10pT/Hz sensitivity.
This thesis presents a novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique for spinor Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) with the paramagnetic Faraday effect. This quantum-photon interface couples the spin of the BEC to the polarisation of an off-resonant laser, which in a magnetic field gradient allows a 1D density profile of the BEC to be reconstructed. As opposed to conventional imaging techniques that are destructive or diffraction limited, this technique is minimally destructive to the BEC and not diffraction limited. Multishot in situ imaging of a single condensate is therefore possible, paving the way for time-resolved studies and 2D/3D reconstructions. A theoretical model for Faraday imaging is developed using the tensor polarisability formalism for the atom-light interaction, and the signal-to-noise ratio is derived. Resolution limits induced by Stern-Gerlach separation are considered, encouraging rapid measurements with strong magnetic field gradients. Analysing the trapping potential reveals that the `magic-zero' wavelength 790nm produces no dipole force and enables a tightly focused probe laser to be used without perturbing the trap. Polarisation-maintaining fibers were seen to impart large fluctuations depending on the incident polarisation, which were minimised. The broad diode laser emission background is seen to reduce the lifetime of the BEC, which was corrected with an interference filter. Short-time Fourier transforms are used to process the photodetected signal, showing the evolution of the polarisation rotation frequency and amplitude. Frequency-modulation is observed at the power line frequency, corresponding to magnetic field fluctuations induced by nearby equipment. Birefringence of optical elements results in elliptical polarisation of the probe and an effective magnetic field, which is cancelled using a quarter-waveplate. The quadratic Zeeman effect causes rapid amplitude modulation, and is eliminated by applying a microwave dressing field. Radiative spin echo is achieved in a magnetic field gradient, proving that dephasing is coherent, and that multishot imaging possible. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is performed on a partially-evaporated atom cloud, distinguishing the thermal and condensed fractions. A split dipole trap is used to create two spatially separated BECs, which are individually resolved during MRI. The resolution is only limited by the strength of the applied magnetic field gradient, and is not subject to the diffraction limit. Custom coils will enable MRI of condensates at the sub-micron scale.
Spinor Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) are multi-component superfluids with magnetic interactions, formed from dilute gases of atoms in the Zeeman sublevels mF of a single hyperfine ground state F. Spinor BECs are inherently magnetic quantum objects, and exhibit a multitude of features such as spin domains, magnon excitations, and distinct magnetic phases. At the heart of the magnetic nature of a spinor BEC is the spin-dependent collisional interaction c, which determines the overall magnetic behaviour of the superfluid. In conjunction with the quadratic Zeeman shift q, the magnitude and sign of c give rise to an intricate magnetic phase diagram. The magnetic phase of a spinor BEC is tunable, and c and q are the knobs. In addition to realising quantum simulators of magnetism, spinor BECs are also precise magnetic sensors. Atomic magnetometry measures the Larmor precession frequency of atoms, which is proportional to the magnetic field strength. The sensitivity of an atomic magnetometer is principally dependent on the duration of the measurement (interrogation time) and number of atoms participating in the measurement. BECs are highly suitable as atomic magnetometers, allowing for long interrogation times and high atomic density, with microscopic sensor volumes. The latter is an important consideration, as measurement of small magnetic sources demand equally microscopic sensors. Established forms of magnetometry (such as warm vapour magnetometers) use large sensing volumes and are not trivially miniaturised. The exquisite sensitivity of a spinor BEC to magnetic fields becomes a liability when one studies low energy (~ 1 Hz) spinor physics over long evolution times (100 ms) in a typical laboratory environment. To first order, the spin-collisional interaction is independent of the magnetic field. However, spatially inhomogeneous magnetic fields are problematic, exerting mechanical forces on the magnetically sensitive spin components, suppressing spin collisions and possibly introducing relaxation mechanisms that confound the observation of intrinsic equilibration. Precise characterisation of magnetic field gradients and their cancellation is thus of paramount importance. In this thesis, the interaction of a spinor BEC with its environment is studied. The construction, operation and optimisation of a BEC machine is described in detail, as well as the quantum state preparation and control techniques used. Spin-mixing collisions were studied by observing population oscillations, the characteristic hallmark of such coherent phenomena. The observed population dynamics showed strong evidence of the deleterious effects of magnetic field gradients. A series of experiments were performed using spin-echo pulse sequences to decouple the evolving spinor condensate from the inhomogeneous magnetic environment with encouraging results, but which posed further questions. The fidelity of spin-echo pulses in the strong radiative coupling regime was also studied. Spinor condensates were then employed as sensitive magnetometers to characterise the magnetic landscape they inhabit. A new method of measuring magnetic field gradients was developed, using a pair of spinor BECs separated in space that are simultaneously addressed by a Ramsey interferometry sequence. Combined with a re-orientable magnetic bias field, the resulting gradiometer was used to measure the magnetic field gradient tensor in vacuo. This scheme can be extended to realise a high-precision vector co-magnetometer, with spatiotemporal sensitivity comparable to established forms of magnetometry. Vector light shifts (VLSs) are optically-induced energy shifts that result in effective magnetic fields, which in our case originate from the laser beams used to trap the atoms. The VLS vanishes for purely linearly polarised light, which is experimentally difficult to obtain in vacuo. Small elliptical polarisation imperfections originating from birefringent optics and the glass vacuum cell result in a non-zero shift that contaminates magnetometry measurements. The VLS is spatially varying due to the intensity gradient of the trapping light. Due to gravitational sag of the trapping potential, the spatial variation of the VLS is accentuated, resulting in an effective magnetic field gradient that contributes to dephasing and component separation. The simultaneous Ramsey interferometry experiments are then adapted to measure the VLS-induced Zeeman shift and diagnose its elimination. Up to 99.96% of the VLS is eliminated using this method, and extensions to the technique are described.
Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) is a phenomenon in which identical bosons occupy the same quantum state below a certain critical temperature. A hallmark of BEC is the coherence between particles every particle shares the same quantum wavefunction and phase. This coherence has been demonstrated for the external (motional) degrees of freedom of the atomic condensates by interfering two condensates. In this thesis, the coherence is shown to extend to the internal spin degrees of freedom of a spin-1 Bose gas evidenced by the observed coherent and reversible spin-changing collisions. The observed coherent dynamics are analogous to Josephson oscillations in weakly connected superconductors and represent a type of matter-wave four-wave mixing. Control of the coherent evolution of the system using magnetic fields is also demonstrated. The studies on spinor condensates begin by creating spinor condensates directly using all-optical approaches that were first developed in our laboratory. All-optical formation of Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) in 1D optical lattice and single focus trap geometries are developed and presented. These techniques offer considerable flexibility and speed compared to magnetic trap approaches, and the trapping potential can be essentially spin-independent and are ideally suited for studying spinor condensates. Using condensates with well-defined initial non-equilibrium spin configuration, spin mixing of F = 1 and F = 2 spinor condensates of rubidium-87 atoms confined in an optical trap is observed. The equilibrium spin configuration in the F = 1 manifold confirms that 87Rb is ferromagnetic. The coherent spinor dynamics are demonstrated by initiating spin mixing deterministically with a non-stationary spin population configuration. Finally, the interplay between the coherent spin mixing and spatial dynamics in spin-1 condensates with ferromagnetic interactions is investigated.
This work reports on the construction of a new-generation system capable to create single-mode spinor Bose-Einstein condensates of 87Rb, and non-destructively probe them using optical Faraday rotation. This system brings together many of the stateof-the-art technologies in ultra-cold physics in a minimalist design which was possible due to the prolific advances in the field respect to the pioneering experiments (Cornell's, Ketterle's, and Chapman's groups). There is rich phenomena that can be potentially studied in this system from the study of predicted novel quantum phases and topologies to entanglement and spin squeezing which are useful for quantum information and interferometry. The potential of this system make it suitable to answer fundamental questions on the phase transition to a condensed and ferromagnetic state. In particular, this work describes theoretically and experimentally, the atomic spin coherence, which is relevant for applications like coherent sensing of magnetic fields. In this direction, our findings demonstrate the characteristics of our system make it a sensor with the best predicted energy resolution per unit bandwidth (~10^-2 h) among all the different technologies applied to magnetometry. The thesis is structured as follows: Part I is dedicated to the mathematical description of the relevant interactions. First, the interaction of optical polarization and atomic spin polarization is reviewed, with special attention to ac-Stark shifts, which are used to generate a conservative trapping potential and Faraday rotation effects that are used for non-destructive spin detection. Second, the interaction of the atoms with a magnetic field is presented. And finally, the mean-filed theory of spinor Bose-Einstein condensation is summarized. The dynamics of a spin-1system in this picture is described by a three-component Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Part II contains three chapters describing the implemented technologies and techniques used in the experiment to create and characterize a spinor condensate. The first chapter describes the ultrahigh vacuum, magnetic fields, lasers, spectroscopy and imaging needed to create a magneto optical trap (MOT) and transfer those atoms into an optical dipole trap (ODT). We implemented a non-standard loading technique based on the semicompensation of the strong differential lightshift induced by the ODT which profits from the effective dark-MOT created at the trap position. In the second chapter we detail, theoretically and experimentally, the all-optical evaporation process employed to achieve condensation in less than five second after the loading. In the final chapter the spin manipulation and read-out techniques are presented. Because there is no observable associated to the spin angle, we exploit the Faraday rotation effect and Stern-Gerlach imaging in order to retrieve information about the spin dynamics. Finally in Part III, we consider the potential of a spinor BEC as a magnetic sensor. The measurement of fundamental properties defining the sensitivity of the sensor are detailed. Those properties are the volume, the temporal coherence and the readout noise. We present a model of the magnetic field environment and its repercussion on the noise of the magnetometer. In the last chapter we present our perspectives to the possible applications of our system. Este trabajo compila los detalles experimentales de un aparato de "nueva generación" capaz de crear condensados Espinoriales de 87Rb en un único dominio magnético, y de obtener información del estado de espín en una forma no destructiva explotando el efecto Faraday. Este aparato conjunta algunas de las tecnologías de punta aplicadas a física de gases ultrafrios en un diseño minimalista. Estas tecnologías se han podido desarrollar debido a los prolíficos avances en el campo, respecto a los experimentos pioneros en los grupos de Cornell, Ketterle y Chapman. Una rica cantidad de fenómenos pueden ser estudiados en este sistema, desde el estudio de novedosas fases y topologías cuánticas hasta la aplicación de entrelazamiento y estados comprimidos relevantes en información cuántica e interferometría. Su potencial lo hace un buen candidato para responder preguntas acerca de la naturaleza de las transiciones ferromagnética y de condensación. En particular, este trabajo describe teorética y experimentalmente la coherencia del estado de espín, el cual, es relevante en aplicaciones como la medición coherente de campos magnéticos. En este sentido, nuestros resultados demuestran que las características de nuestro condensado espinorial lo hacen el sensor con la mejor resolución en energía por unidad de ancho de banda (~10^-2 h ), de entre todas las tecnologías aplicadas a magnetometría. Esta tesis se estructura de la siguiente manera: Part I está dedicada a la descripción matemática de las interacciones relevantes. Primero la interacción entre la luz y el espín atómico es revisada, con especial énfasis en el desplazamiento ac-Stark, que es explotado para generar un potencial conservador, así como en las medidas no destructivas del espín via efecto Faraday. En segundo lugar, estudiamos la dinámica de espín bajo la interacción Zeeman entre los átomos y un campo magnético que varía en el tiempo. Finalmente es brevemente tratada la teoría de campo medio (mean-field theory) que describe los condensados espinoriales en la forma de una ecuación de Gross-Pitaevskii multicomponente. Part II contiene tres capítulos que detallan la tecnologías y técnicas usadas en el experimento para crear y caracterizar el condensado. El primer capítulo describe el ultra-alto vacío, los campos magnéticos, láseres, espectroscopía e imaging usados para crear una trampa magneto-óptica (MOT), y para transferir esos átomos en una trampa dipolar óptica (ODT). Nosotros implementamos una técnica poco estandard para cargar la ODT, la cual se basa en compensar medianamente el excesivo lightshift diferencial inducido por nuestra ODT. Esta técnica nos ayuda a crear una dark-MOT efectiva con la que podemos conseguir altas densidades de átoms en la ODT. En el segundo capítulo detallamos la evaporación que es "all-optical", con la que podemos conseguir un condensado en menos de 5 s de evaporación. En el capítulo final describimos las técnicas para crear arbitrarios estados de espín y cómo detectarlos. Para esto último explotamos el efecto Faraday y capturamos imágenes Stern-Gerlach. Finalmente en Part III, estudiamos las propiedades de coherencia, tiempo de vida y extensión espacial del condensado. Detallamos el sistema especialmente en el contexto de sensores magnéticos. Además, presentamos un modelo del campo magnético ambiental y sus repercusiones en el ruido del magnetómetro. En el último capítulo hablamos de algunas de las alternativas aplicaciones de nuestro sistema.