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arXiv:2003.08415 · Applied Sciences

Influence of Laser Intensity Fluctuation on Single-Cesium Atom Trapping Lifetime in a 1064-nm Microscopic Optical Tweezer

Rui Sun, Xin Wang, Kong Zhang, Jun He, Junmin Wang

Published Jan 16, 2020• 5 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

An optical tweezer composed of a strongly focused single-spatial-mode Gaussian beam of a red-detuned 1064-nm laser can confine a single-cesium (Cs) atom at the strongest point of the light intensity. We can use this for coherent manipulation of single-quantum bits and single-photon sources. The trapping lifetime of the atoms in the optical tweezers is very short due to the impact of the background atoms, the parametric heating of the optical tweezer and the residual thermal motion of the atoms. In this paper, we analyzed the influence of the background pressure, the trap frequency of optical tweezers and the laser intensity fluctuation of optical tweezers on the atomic trapping lifetime. Combined with the external feedback loop based on an acousto-optical modulator (AOM), the intensity fluctuation of the 1064-nm laser in the time domain was suppressed from ±3.360% to ±0.064%, and the suppression bandwidth in the frequency domain reached approximately 33 kHz. The trapping lifetime of a single-Cs atom in the microscopic optical tweezers was extended from 4.04 s to 6.34 s.

DOI
10.3390/app10020659

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An optical tweezer composed of a strongly focused single-spatial-mode Gaussian beam of a red-detuned 1064-nm laser can confine a single-cesium (Cs) atom at the strongest point of the light intensity. We can use this for coherent manipulation of single-quantum bits and single-photon sources. The trapping lifetime of the atoms in the optical tweezers is very short due to the impact of the background atoms, the parametric heating of the optical tweezer and the residual thermal motion of the atoms. In this paper, we analyzed the influence of the background pressure, the trap frequency of optical tweezers and the laser intensity fluctuation of optical tweezers on the atomic trapping lifetime. Combined with the external feedback loop based on an acousto-optical modulator (AOM), the intensity fluctuation of the 1064-nm laser in the time domain was suppressed from ±3.360% to ±0.064%, and the suppression bandwidth in the frequency domain reached approximately 33 kHz. The trapping lifetime of a single-Cs atom in the microscopic optical tweezers was extended from 4.04 s to 6.34 s.
We reduce the intensity noise of laser light by using an electro-optic modulator and acousto-optic modulator in series. The electro-optic modulator reduces noise at high frequency (10 kHz to 1 MHz), while the acousto-optic modulator sets the average power of the light and reduces noise at low frequency (up to 10 kHz). The light is then used to trap single sodium atoms in an optical tweezer, where the lifetime of the atoms is limited by parametric heating due to laser noise at twice the trapping frequency. With our noise eater, the noise is reduced by up to 15 dB at these frequencies and the lifetime of the atom in the optical tweezer is increased by an order of magnitude to around 6 seconds. Our technique is general and acts directly on the laser beam, expanding laser options for sensitive optical trapping applications.
Single cesium atom prepared in a large-magnetic-gradient magneto-optical trap (MOT) has been efficiently loaded into a microscopic far-off-resonance optical trap (FORT, or optical tweezer), and the atom can be transferred back and forth between two traps with high efficiency. The intensity noise spectra of tweezer laser are measured and the heating mechanisms in optical tweezer are analyzed. To prolong the lifetime of single atom trapped in optical tweezer, laser cooling technique is utilized to decrease atom's kinetic energy, and the effective temperature of single atom in tweezer is estimated by the release-and-recapture (R&R) method. Thanks to laser cooling, typical lifetime of ~ 130.6 ± 1.8 s for single atom in tweezer is obtained. These works provides a good starting point for coherent manipulation of single atom.
We investigate single-cesium-atom heating owing to the momentum accumulation process induced by the resonant pulsed excitation in a microscopic optical dipole trap formed by a strongly focused 1064-nm laser beam. The heating depends on the trap frequency, which restricts the maximum repetition rate of the pulsed excitation. We experimentally verify the heating of a single atom and then demonstrate how to suppress it with an optimized pulsed excitation and cooling method. The typical trap lifetime of a single cesium atom is extended from $108\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}6\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{s}$ to $2536\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}31\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ms}$, and the corresponding number of excitations increases from $\ensuremath{\sim}108$ to $\ensuremath{\sim}360\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}000$. In applying this faster cooling method, we use the trapped single cesium atom as a triggered single-photon source at an excitation repetition rate of 10 MHz. The second-order intensity correlations of the emitted single photons are characterized by implementing a Hanbury Brown and Twiss setup, and a clear antibunching effect has been observed.
Single-atom-based single-photon source has several advantages, such as narrow bandwidth, wavelength matching with the absorption line of the same atomic ensemble, and insensitivity to the environment disturbing, and it is very important not only for basic researches in quantum optic field but also for applications in quantum information processing. In this paper, we report the generation of a 10-MHz-repetition-rate triggered single-photon source at 852 nm based on a trapped single cesium atom in a far-off-resonance microscopic optical dipole trap (FORT). To generate an optical dipole trap, a far-red-detuned 1064 nm laser beam is tightly focused by using a high numerical aperture lens, a typical trap depth is 2 mK and trap waist is 2.3 m. To obtain a maximum probability of pulsed excitation, the frequency of the pulsed laser should be resonant with the atomic energy levels and the trapped single atom must be excited with a -pulse. However, the interaction between the FORT laser and the atoms causes AC Stark shifts of the atomic energy levels. Thus, in order to demonstrate the resonant pulsed excitation, it is important to calculate and measure the shift of 6S1/2|Fg=4,mF=+4-6P3/2|Fe=5,mF=+5 cyclical transition in the FORT. For a two-level system, the probability of pulsed excitation can be described by Rabi oscillations with a characteristic Rabi frequency . With an optimized time sequence, we experimentally demonstrate the Rabi oscillation between the ground state and the excited state, and the peak power of -pulse laser is about 1.25 mW. We also measure the temporal envelope of single photons after a -pulse excitation. A gated pulsed excitation and cooling technique are used to reduce the possibility that atoms are heated by -pulse laser. The typical trapping lifetime of single cesium atom is extended from~108 ups to~2536 ms. The corresponding number of excitations is improved from 108 to 360000. The second-order intensity correlations of the emitted single-photon are characterized by implementing Hanbury Brown-Twiss setup. The statistics shows a strong anti-bunching with a value of 0.09 for the second-order correlation at zero delay. In the future, we will perform a Hong-Ou-Mandel two-photon interference experiment to analyze the indistinguishability of the single photons. We will also trap single atoms in a magic-wavelength optical dipole trap where the ground and the excited states have the same shift.
Optical tweezers have become powerful tools for the confinement and manipulation of neutral atoms, molecules, mesoscopic biological molecules and living cells. In our experiment, a single caesium atom was prepared in a large-magnetic-gradient magneto-optical trap (MOT). It was then efficiently transferred back and forth between the MOT and a 1064 nm microscopic optical tweezer. The atomic transfer between the MOT and the tweezer can be employed to measure the trapping lifetime and the energy distribution of the single atom in the tweezer. In order to extend the trapping lifetime, laser cooling is used to decrease the atom's kinetic energy. The trapping lifetime was extended from ∼75 to ∼130 s by applying a 10 ms laser cooling phase just after the single atom is transferred into the tweezer.
In our experiment, a single cesium atom prepared in a large-magnetic-gradient magneto-optical trap (MOT) can be efficiently transferred into a 1064-nm far-off-resonance microscopic optical dipole trap (FORT). The efficient transfer of the single atom between the two traps is used to determine the trapping lifetime and the effective temperature of the single atom in FORT. The typical trapping lifetime has been improved from ∼ 6.9 s to ∼ 130 s by decreasing the background pressure from ∼ 1 × 10 −10 Torr to ∼ 2 × 10 −11 Torr and applying one-shot 10-ms laser cooling phase. We also theoretically investigate the dependence of trapping lifetimes of a single atom in a FORT on trap parameters based on the FORT beam’s intensity noise induced heating. Numerical simulations show that the heating depends on the FORT beam’s waist size and the trap depth. The trapping time can be predicted based on effective temperature measurement of a single atom in the FORT and the intensity noise spectra of the FORT beam. These experimental results are found to be in agreement with the predictions of the heating model.