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arXiv:1801.04792 · Physical Review A

Producing superfluid circulation states using phase imprinting

Avinash Kumar, Romain Dubessy, Thomas Badr, Camilla De Rossi, Mathieu de Goër de Herve, Laurent Longchambon, Hélène Perrin

Published Apr 17, 2018• 54 citations
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Abstract

We propose a method to prepare states of given quantized circulation in annular Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) confined in a ring trap using the method of phase imprinting without relying on a two-photon angular momentum transfer. The desired phase profile is imprinted on the atomic wave function using a short light pulse with a tailored intensity pattern generated with a spatial light modulator. We demonstrate the realization of ``helicoidal'' intensity profiles suitable for this purpose. Due to the diffraction limit, the theoretical steplike intensity profile is not achievable in practice. We investigate the effect of imprinting an intensity profile smoothed by a finite optical resolution onto the annular BEC with a numerical simulation of the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation. This allows us to optimize the intensity pattern for a given target circulation to compensate for the limited resolution.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.97.043615

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We propose a method to prepare states of given quantized circulation in annular Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) confined in a ring trap using the method of phase imprinting without relying on a two-photon angular momentum transfer. The desired phase profile is imprinted on the atomic wave function using a short light pulse with a tailored intensity pattern generated with a spatial light modulator. We demonstrate the realization of ``helicoidal'' intensity profiles suitable for this purpose. Due to the diffraction limit, the theoretical steplike intensity profile is not achievable in practice. We investigate the effect of imprinting an intensity profile smoothed by a finite optical resolution onto the annular BEC with a numerical simulation of the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation. This allows us to optimize the intensity pattern for a given target circulation to compensate for the limited resolution.
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We investigate the role of vortices in the decay of persistent current states of annular atomic superfluids by solving numerically the Gross–Pitaevskii equation, and we directly compare our results with the 6Li experiment at LENS data. We theoretically model the optical phase-imprinting technique employed to experimentally excite finite-circulation states in the Bose–Einstein condensation regime, accounting for imperfections of the optical gradient imprinting profile. By comparing simulations of this realistic protocol to an ideal imprinting, we show that the introduced density excitations arising from imperfect imprinting are mainly responsible for limiting the maximum reachable winding number wmax in the superfluid ring. We also investigate the effect of a point-like obstacle with variable potential height V0 on the decay of circulating supercurrents. For a given obstacle height, a critical circulation wc exists, such that for an initial circulation w0 larger than wc the supercurrent decays through the emission of vortices, which cross the superflow and thus induce phase slippage. Higher values of the obstacle height V0 further favor the entrance of vortices, thus leading to lower values of wc. Furthermore, the stronger vortex-defect interaction at higher V0 leads to vortices that propagate closer to the center of the ring condensate. The combination of both these effects leads to an increase in the supercurrent decay rate for increasing w0, in agreement with experimental observations.
Quantum phase engineering is demonstrated with two techniques that allow the spatial phase distribution of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) to be written and read out. A quantum state was designed and produced by optically imprinting a phase pattern onto a BEC of sodium atoms, and matter-wave interferometry with spatially resolved imaging was used to analyze the resultant phase distribution. An appropriate phase imprint created solitons, the first experimental realization of this nonlinear phenomenon in a BEC. The subsequent evolution of these excitations was investigated both experimentally and theoretically.
We present numerical analysis of steady states in a two-component (spinor) driven-dissipative quantum fluid formed by condensed exciton polaritons in an annular optically induced trap. We demonstrate that an incoherent ring-shaped optical pump creating the exciton-polariton confinement supports the existence of stationary and rotating azimuthon steady states with azimuthally modulated density associated with Josephson vortices. Such states can be imprinted by coherent light pulses with a defined orbital angular momentum, as well as generated spontaneously in the presence of thermal noise.
The irrotational nature of superfluids leads to spectacular rotational properties. For the fluid to rotate, its density must locally vanish at a singular point called a quantum vortex. The annular geometry is of great interest for studying superfluidity as the gas can rotate in this geometry around a central hole without requiring any singularity, allowing the existence of persistent currents along the ring with a quantized circulation. In out experiment, we confine cold atoms dressed by a radiofrequency field in an adiabatic potential based on a quadrupolar magnetic trap. The resulting bubble-shaped potential, both very smooth and easily tunable, allows us to produce two types of ring-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates. A first strategy consists in adding a far-detuned light sheet to confine the atoms at the intersection between the bubble and the horizontal plane imposed by the light field – i.e. a ring. We present the implementation and optimization of this trap and demonstrate the possibility to prepare and observe superfluid currents in the ring. A second path exploits the centrifugal force and the anharmonicity of the adiabatic potential to create an effective Mexican hat potential by rotating the trapped atoms at the bottom of the bubble faster than the trap frequency. After having realized such a system, we probe its quadrupolar modes to characterize the rotation. The study of vortex distribution in the rotating gas also shows a thermal melting effect of the finite temperature vortex lattice.
This paper suggests a method to create dark soliton-like waves in a trapped atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). With the phase imprinting method, a solitonlike disturbance is produced along the x-axis. The method is used in two cases (with and without rotation of a trapping potential). The disturbance in a two-dimensional (2D) system is unstable. The soliton-like perturbation is found to decay into more stable vortex pairs together with a burst of sound wave. The simulations are performed by solving the 2D Gross-Pitaevskii equation (2D GPE). The successive dynamics of the wave function are studied by monitoring the evolution of density and phase profile.