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arXiv:2105.14832 · Physical Review Applied

Imaging Moving Atoms by Holographically Reconstructing the Dragged Slow Light

Yuzhuo Wang, Jian Zhao, Xing Huang, Liyang Qiu, Lingjing Ji, Yudi Ma, Yizun He, James P. Sobol, Saijun Wu

Published Jul 26, 2022• 6 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The propagation of light in moving media is dragged by atomic motion. The light-drag effect can be dramatically enhanced by reducing the group velocity with electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). We develop a systematic procedure to accurately reconstruct the complex wavefront of the slow light with single-shot measurements, enabling precise, photon shot-noise-limited spectroscopic measurements of atomic response across EIT even in the presence of generic atomic number fluctuations. Applying the technique to an expanding cloud of cold atoms, we demonstrate simultaneous inference of the atomic density distribution and the velocity field from the complex imaging data. This inline imaging technique may assist a wide range of cold-atom experiments to access spectroscopic and phase-space information with in situ and minimally destructive measurements.

DOI
10.1103/physrevapplied.18.014065

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The propagation of light in moving media is dragged by atomic motion. The light-drag effect can be dramatically enhanced by reducing the group velocity with electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). We develop a systematic procedure to accurately reconstruct the complex wavefront of the slow light with single-shot measurements, enabling precise, photon shot-noise-limited spectroscopic measurements of atomic response across EIT even in the presence of generic atomic number fluctuations. Applying the technique to an expanding cloud of cold atoms, we demonstrate simultaneous inference of the atomic density distribution and the velocity field from the complex imaging data. This inline imaging technique may assist a wide range of cold-atom experiments to access spectroscopic and phase-space information with in situ and minimally destructive measurements.
Measuring the motion of quantum particles has been playing a significant role in performing high precision inertial sensing and studying fundamental physics.While most of the motion sensing schemes with cold atoms are based on single-particles.In this thesis, a new measuring method of using a collective state of atoms for motion quantum sensing is introduced.Two experiments were demonstrated to investigate its feasibility.One is related to the light-dragging effect in an electromagnetically induced transparent (EIT) cold 85 Rb atomic ensemble.The dragging coefficient F d was enhanced to 1.67 × 10 5 , which was three orders of magnitude better than the previous experiments.With a large enhancement of the dragging effect, we realised an atom-based velocimeter that has a sensitivity of 1 mm/s, which was two orders of magnitude higher than the velocity width of the atomic medium used before.Such a demonstration could pave the way for motion sensing using the collective state of atoms in a room temperature vapour cell or solid-state material.Another experiment is related to the motion sensing in a driven periodic potential.The motion of the atomic ensemble undergoing Bloch oscillation was measured using the light dragging method.In order to have efficient Bloch oscillation of atoms, the first Raman sideband cooling of 85 Rb to pre-cool atomic ensemble close to the recoil temperature (357 nK) was achieved by us.The phase shift measurements showed the linear-like relation to the accelerating time with the data precision 0.00036 rad (0.005 ns, 0.7 mm/s), instead of the stepwise oscillation period τ B .To observe the stepwise motion, it is required to reduce the lattice field intensity and implement the velocity selection technique to select atoms with a narrow velocity width.
Summary form only given. The recent observation of slow light propagation by Harris and Hau (1999) motivates the study of nonlinear optical processes under conditions where slow group velocity, or equivalently large nonlinearity, is the dominant feature of the problem. By combining electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and cold atom technology, a sharp resonance is created with a transmission linewidth much less than the natural linewidth of the atoms. A pulse of light propagating in this medium has a phase velocity of c and a group velocity that can be less than 10/sup -7/ c. As a light pulse of sufficiently wide bandwidth enters a cold-atom, EIT medium, the pulse shape, electric field strength, and power density remain nominally unchanged. Concurrently, because the group velocity is decreased, the stored energy per volume must increase. This increase occurs by spatial compression of the travelling pulse. A pulse measuring 300 m in free space compresses to 30 /spl mu/m within the cold-atom medium.
As one of the most influential experiments on the development of modern macroscopic theory from Newtonian mechanics to Einstein's special theory of relativity, the phenomenon of light dragging in a moving medium has been discussed and observed extensively in different types of systems. To have a significant dragging effect, the long duration of light travelling in the medium is preferred. Here we demonstrate a light-dragging experiment in an electromagnetically induced transparent cold atomic ensemble and enhance the dragging effect by at least three orders of magnitude compared with the previous experiments. With a large enhancement of the dragging effect, we realize an atom-based velocimeter that has a sensitivity two orders of magnitude higher than the velocity width of the atomic medium used. Such a demonstration could pave the way for motional sensing using the collective state of atoms in a room temperature vapour cell or solid state material.
The Fresnel-Fizeau effect of transverse drag, in which the trajectory of a light beam changes due to the transverse motion of the optical medium, is usually extremely small and hard to detect. We observe transverse drag in a moving hot-vapor cell, utilizing slow light due to electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). The drag effect is enhanced by a factor 3.6 × 10 5 , corresponding to the ratio between the light speed in vacuum and the group velocity under EIT conditions. We study the contribution of the thermal atomic motion, which is much faster than the mean medium velocity, and identify the regime where its effect on the transverse drag is negligible.
We demonstrate a new imaging technique for cold atom clouds based on phase retrieval from a single diffraction measurement. Most single-shot diffractive imaging methods for cold atoms assume a monomorphic object to extract the column density. The method described here allows quantitative imaging of an inhomogeneous cloud, enabling recovery of either the atomic density or the refractive index, provided the other is known. Using ideas borrowed from density functional theory, we calculate the approximate paraxial diffracted intensity derivative from the measured diffracted intensity distribution and use it to solve the Transport of Intensity Equation (TIE) for the phase of the wave at the detector plane. Back-propagation to the object plane yields the object exit surface wave and then provides a quantitative measurement of either the atomic column density or refractive index. Images of homogeneous clouds showed good quantitative agreement with conventional techniques. An inhomogeneous cloud was created using a cascade electromagnetically induced transparency scheme and images of both phase and amplitude parts of refractive index across the cloud were separately retrieved, showing good agreement with theoretical results.
Light experiences drag effects when it propagates through a moving medium. The study of light drag has provided foundational insights into light-matter interactions. While longitudinal drag has been extensively characterized, transverse drag, where the medium moves perpendicular to the light's propagation, is subtler and requires advanced techniques for detection. In this work, we experimentally investigate transverse drag in a highly dispersive slow-light medium using non-degenerate Zeeman electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in rubidium vapor. By systematically comparing configurations where the light beam and the medium serve as the moving frame, we leverage Galilean invariance to analyze transverse light-drag in this optical context. Thus, we provide a platform for future tests of fundamental principles on strong experimental grounds, which offers promising applications in precision velocimetry, accelerometry, quantum information, and light storage technologies.