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arXiv:2307.04808 · Physical Review Letters

Autonomous Feedback Stabilization of a Cavity-Coupled Spin Oscillator

Julian Wolf, Daniel H. Eilbott, Joshua Isaacs, Kevin P. Mours, Jonathan Kohler, Dan Stamper-Kurn

Published Feb 6, 2025• 3 citations
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Abstract

We report out-of-equilibrium stabilization of the collective spin of an atomic ensemble through autonomous feedback by a driven optical cavity. For a magnetic field applied at an angle to the cavity axis, dispersive coupling to the cavity provides sensitivity to a combination of the longitudinal and transverse spin. Coherent backaction by cavity light onto the atoms, conditioned by the cavity susceptibility, stabilizes the spin state at an arbitrary energy. The setpoint tracking and closed-loop gain spectrum of the feedback system are characterized and found to agree closely with analytic predictions.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.134.053603

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We report out-of-equilibrium stabilization of the collective spin of an atomic ensemble through autonomous feedback by a driven optical cavity. For a magnetic field applied at an angle to the cavity axis, dispersive coupling to the cavity provides sensitivity to a combination of the longitudinal and transverse spin. Coherent backaction by cavity light onto the atoms, conditioned by the cavity susceptibility, stabilizes the spin state at an arbitrary energy. The setpoint tracking and closed-loop gain spectrum of the feedback system are characterized and found to agree closely with analytic predictions.
We demonstrate continuous measurement and coherent control of the collective spin of an atomic ensemble undergoing Larmor precession in a high-finesse optical cavity. The coupling of the precessing spin to the cavity field yields phenomena similar to those observed in cavity optomechanics, including cavity amplification, damping, and optical spring shifts. These effects arise from autonomous optical feedback onto the atomic spin dynamics, conditioned by the cavity spectrum. We use this feedback to stabilize the spin in either its high- or low-energy state, where, in equilibrium with measurement backaction heating, it achieves a steady-state temperature, indicated by an asymmetry between the Stokes and the anti-Stokes scattering rates. For sufficiently large Larmor frequency, such feedback stabilizes the spin ensemble in a nearly pure quantum state, in spite of continuous measurement by the cavity field.
We realize a spin-orbit interaction between the collective spin precession and center-of-mass motion of a trapped ultracold atomic gas, mediated by spin- and position-dependent dispersive coupling to a driven optical cavity. The collective spin, precessing near its highest-energy state in an applied magnetic field, can be approximated as a negative-mass harmonic oscillator. When the Larmor precession and mechanical motion are nearly resonant, cavity mediated coupling leads to a negative-mass instability, driving exponential growth of a correlated mode of the hybrid system. We observe this growth imprinted on modulations of the cavity field and estimate the full covariance of the resulting two-mode state by observing its transient decay during subsequent free evolution.
We study a hybrid system composed of a three-level atomic ensemble inside an optomechanical cavity. The mechanical oscillator is coupled to the internal state of the atomic ensemble via electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), created by the intra-cavity field and an off-resonance control laser. The fluctuation in the output-coupled cavity field is fed back to the mechanical oscillator. We use a combination of feedback and EIT-assisted cooling of the oscillator to its quantum ground state and then establish coherent coupling between the oscillator and the atomic spin. The superposition of the atomic state and oscillator is studied in different regimes of optomechanical and light–atom coupling strengths and the conditions for creating a single atom-phonon polaron is identified. We observe coherent superposition of fluctuations in a range of optomechanical and atomic cooperativities.
We theoretically investigate the entangled states of an atomic ensemble that can be obtained via cavity feedback, varying the atom-light coupling from weak to strong, and including a systematic treatment of decoherence. In the strong-coupling regime for small atomic ensembles, the system is driven by cavity losses into a long-lived, highly entangled many-body state that we characterize analytically. In the weak-coupling regime for large ensembles, we find analytically the maximum spin-squeezing that can be achieved by optimizing both the coupling and the atom number. This squeezing is fundamentally limited by spontaneous emission to a constant value, which is independent of the atom number.
We theoretically investigate the entangled states of an atomic ensemble that can be obtained via cavity feedback, varying the atom-light coupling from weak to strong, and including a systematic treatment of decoherence. In the strong-coupling regime for small atomic ensembles, the system is driven by cavity losses into a long-lived, highly entangled many-body state that we characterize analytically. In the weak-coupling regime for large ensembles, we find analytically the maximum spin-squeezing that can be achieved by optimizing both the coupling and the atom number. This squeezing is fundamentally limited by spontaneous emission to a constant value, which is independent of the atom number.
The quantum nature of light makes it a basic component for models of quantum measurement and information exchange between disparate quantum modes, pioneered in the field of cavity quantum electrodynamics. The interaction of atomic ensembles with the mode of an optical cavity provides a flexible platform for exploring the coherent interaction of light with diverse macroscopic dynamics, such as collective motion and spin. This dissertation presents experimental results and theoretical models for continuous measurement and control of the center of mass motion and collective spin precession of an atomic ensemble, mediated by coupling to a high-finesse optical cavity. First, the theory of dispersive coupling between the cavity mode and the collective motion and spin of an atomic ensemble is derived, and then a general time-domain formalism is developed for theoretical analysis of multi-mode optodynamical systems. Single-mode optodynamical effects are introduced through experimental demonstrations of measurement and control of the collective atomic spin, providing a close analogy to cavity optomechanics.Next, multiple collective atomic modes are considered within a single cavity, in order to assemble optically mediated interactions within multi-mode optodynamical systems. A demonstration of optodynamical interactions between the center of mass motion of two atomic ensembles is presented, coupled through an optical spring mediated by the cavity mode. Then simultaneous coupling of the center of mass motion and total spin precession of a single ensemble of atoms is described, yielding an experimental realization of a negative-mass instability, facilitated by the novel resource of the spin ensembles inverted state. A theoretical analysis of the negative-mass instability is presented, which indicates the possibility of generating two-mode squeezed states in the absence of excess incoherent noise. Finally, linear state retrodiction from the optodynamical signals is discussed, providing background and supplemental material for a forthcoming manuscript.