Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2407.00285 · Physical Review Research

Overcoming photobleaching in imaging of single barium atoms in a solid xenon matrix

M. Yvaine, David Fairbank, J. Soderstrom, C. Taylor, J Stanley, T. Walton, C. Chambers, A. Evan Iverson, W. Fairbank, S. Al Kharusi, A. Amy, Evan Angelico, A. Anker, I. J. Arnquist, A. Atencio, J. C. Bane, V. Belov, E. P. Bernard, T. Bhatta, Aleksey E. Bolotnikov, John G. Breslin, P. A. Breur, J. Brodsky, E. Brown, T. Brunner, E. Caden, G. F. Cao, D. Cesmecioglu, E. Chambers, B. Chana, D. Chernyak, Ming-Jia Chiu, R. Collister, M. Cvitan, Tim Daniels, Lucas Darroch, Ralph G. DeVoe, Maria Laura di Vacri, M. J. Dolinski, B. Eckert, M. Elbeltagi, R. Elmansali, N. Fatemighomi, B. T. Foust, Yanyan Fu, D. Gallacher, N. Gallice, G. Giacomini, W. Gillis, C. Gingras, R. Gornea, G. Gratta, C. A. Hardy, S. C. Hedges, E. Hein, J. D. Holt, E. W. Hoppe, A. Karelin, Dakota K. Keblbeck, Ivan V. Kotov, A. V. Kuchenkov, Krishna S Kumar, Anna A. Kwiatkowski, A. Larson, M. B. Latif, K. G. Leach, A. Lennarz, Douglas S. Leonard, H. Lewis, G. S. Li, Zepeng Li, C. Licciardi, R. Lindsay, R. MacLellan, S. Majidi, C. Malbrunot, J. Masbou, Kirsten McMichael, M. Medina-Peregrina, M. K. Moe, B. Mong, David C. Moore, C. R. Natzke, X. E. Ngwadla, Kaixuan Ni, A. Nolan, S. C. Nowicki, J. C. Nzobadila Ondze, A. Odian, John L. Orrell, G.S. Ortega, Cory T. Overman, L. Pagani, H. Peltz Smalley, A. Perna, Andrea Pietro Pocar, V. Radeka, Eric J. Raguzin, H. Rasiwala, D. Ray

Published Nov 25, 2024• 3 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Neutrinoless double beta decay is one of the most sensitive probes for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. One of the isotopes under investigation is Xe 136 , which would double beta decay into Ba 136 . Detecting the single Ba 136 daughter provides a sort of ultimate tool in the discrimination against backgrounds. Previous work demonstrated the ability to perform single atom imaging of Ba atoms in a single-vacancy site of a solid xenon matrix. In this paper, the effort to identify signal from individual barium atoms is extended to Ba atoms in a hexa-vacancy site in the matrix and is achieved despite increased photobleaching in this site. Abrupt fluorescence turn-off of a single Ba atom is also observed. Significant recovery of fluorescence signal lost through photobleaching is demonstrated upon annealing of Ba deposits in the Xe ice. Following annealing, it is observed that Ba atoms in the hexa-vacancy site exhibit antibleaching while Ba atoms in the tetra-vacancy site exhibit bleaching. This may be evidence for a matrix site transfer upon laser excitation. Our findings offer a path of continued research toward tagging of Ba daughters in all significant sites in solid xenon. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

DOI
10.1103/physrevresearch.6.043193

Related papers

Spectroscopy of Ba and Ba+ deposits in solid xenon for barium tagging in nEXO

B. Mong, S. Cook, T. Walton +73 more

Progress on a method of barium tagging for the nEXO double beta decay experiment is reported. Absorption and emission spectra for deposits of barium atoms and ions in solid xenon matrices are presented. Excitation spectra for prominent emission lines, temperature dependence, and bleaching of the fluorescence reveal the existence of different matrix sites. A regular series of sharp lines observed in ${\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}$ deposits is identified with some type of barium hydride molecule. Lower limits for the fluorescence quantum efficiency of the principal Ba emission transition are reported. Under current conditions, an image of fewer than or equal to ${10}^{4}$ Ba atoms can be obtained. Prospects for imaging single Ba atoms in solid xenon are discussed.

arXiv:1410.2624•Physical Review A•Feb 10, 2015•40 citations

Excitation and emission spectra of Ba+ ions in solid xenon

Joe Soderstrom, David Fairbank, M. Yvaine +8 more

Excitation and emission spectra at 12 K temperature are presented for the first time for Ba+ in solid xenon. This is only the third such atomic ion studied in a solid noble gas matrix. Two groups of emission peaks, each with similar excitation spectra, photobleaching behavior and temperature dependence, are identified that may be associated with transitions from a common excited state in a particular solid xenon matrix site. Favorable conditions are found for imaging of single Ba+ ions in solid xenon, including reasonably strong emission efficiency, acceptable photobleaching and a method for overcoming background emission from the surface of the cooled sapphire window. A comparison of the new excitation spectrum of Ba+ in solid xenon with unpublished results on spectroscopy of Ba+ in liquid xenon helps confirm the identification of the latter.

Low Temperature Physics•Apr 1, 2025•0 citations

Development of a technique for imaging single Ba atoms in solid xenon by laser scanning

Danielle Harris, Chris Chambers, David Fairbank +3 more

Bulletin of the American Physical Society•Oct 20, 2017•0 citations

Optical spin readout of single rubidium atoms trapped in solid neon

David M. Lancaster, Ugne Dargyte, Jonathan D. Weinstein

In this work, we optically resolve and detect individual rubidium atoms trapped in solid neon. Additionally, we optically pump the rubidium's spin state using polarized light and measure the spin state via laser-induced fluorescence. When combined with the previously demonstrated magnetic field sensing capabilities of matrix-isolated rubidium atoms, these results are very promising for nanoscale sensing and for performing nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of individual molecules cotrapped in the matrix. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Physical Review Research•Mar 1, 2024•4 citations

Triplet emission of atomic ytterbium isolated in a xenon matrix

Nadezhda N. Kleshchina, Inna S. Kalinina, Ricardo Lewis Lambo +3 more

The electronic transitions of ytterbium atoms in a solid Xe matrix grown at 4.8 K are investigated. Absorption bands are detected in the regions of the gas-phase 6s2 1S0 → 4f135d6s2 and 6s2 1S0 → 6s6p 1P1 transitions. Both bands indicate that Yb atoms occupy multiple trapping sites, of which three are identified. Emission induced by the 6s2 1S0 → 6s6p 1P1 excitation is found to be concentrated entirely in the region of the 6s6p 3PJ → 6s2 1S0 decay, whereas the singlet emission is completely quenched. Multiple emission peaks are observed and the effects of annealing and prolonged irradiation on their amplitudes are found to be significant and are interpreted as a consequence of Yb population transfer from one type of site to another. Modeling of the ground-state site structure and stability predicts three Yb/Xe occupation types, substitutional (ss), tetravacancy (tv) and hexavacancy (hv), in order of decreasing stability. Their tentative associations with observed absorption and emission features are discussed. Time correlated single photon spectroscopy is used to determine the lifetimes of the individual emission bands. They are found to be different from each other with indications of a mixture of short- and long- lived 6s6p 3PJ fine-structure components and demonstrate distinct temperature dependencies. A dramatic decrease in the lifetime of the emission peak tentatively assigned to the most stable site with temperature is explained by a competition between the radiative and non-radiative decay paths of the 6s6p 3P1 state. The mechanism of the latter can be attributed to electron–phonon coupling as confirmed by a model of the temperature-dependence of the lifetime.

Low Temperature Physics•Jul 1, 2019•4 citations

Spectroscopy of barium atoms in liquid and solid helium matrices

Victor Lebedev, Peter Moroshkin, Antoine Weis

We present an exhaustive overview of optical absorption and laser-induced fluorescence lines of Ba atoms in liquid and solid helium matrices in visible and near-infrared spectral ranges. Due to the increased density of isolated atoms, we have found a large number of spectral lines that were not observed in condensed helium matrices before. We have also measured the lifetimes of metastable states. The lowest ${}^{3}{D}_{1}$ metastable state has lifetime of 2.6 s and can be used as an intermediate state in two-step excitations of high-lying states. Various matrix-induced radiationless population transfer channels have been identified.

Physical Review A•Aug 3, 2011•14 citations
Neutrinoless double beta decay is one of the most sensitive probes for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. One of the isotopes under investigation is Xe 136 , which would double beta decay into Ba 136 . Detecting the single Ba 136 daughter provides a sort of ultimate tool in the discrimination against backgrounds. Previous work demonstrated the ability to perform single atom imaging of Ba atoms in a single-vacancy site of a solid xenon matrix. In this paper, the effort to identify signal from individual barium atoms is extended to Ba atoms in a hexa-vacancy site in the matrix and is achieved despite increased photobleaching in this site. Abrupt fluorescence turn-off of a single Ba atom is also observed. Significant recovery of fluorescence signal lost through photobleaching is demonstrated upon annealing of Ba deposits in the Xe ice. Following annealing, it is observed that Ba atoms in the hexa-vacancy site exhibit antibleaching while Ba atoms in the tetra-vacancy site exhibit bleaching. This may be evidence for a matrix site transfer upon laser excitation. Our findings offer a path of continued research toward tagging of Ba daughters in all significant sites in solid xenon. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
Progress on a method of barium tagging for the nEXO double beta decay experiment is reported. Absorption and emission spectra for deposits of barium atoms and ions in solid xenon matrices are presented. Excitation spectra for prominent emission lines, temperature dependence, and bleaching of the fluorescence reveal the existence of different matrix sites. A regular series of sharp lines observed in Ba+{\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}Ba+ deposits is identified with some type of barium hydride molecule. Lower limits for the fluorescence quantum efficiency of the principal Ba emission transition are reported. Under current conditions, an image of fewer than or equal to 104{10}^{4}104 Ba atoms can be obtained. Prospects for imaging single Ba atoms in solid xenon are discussed.
Excitation and emission spectra at 12 K temperature are presented for the first time for Ba+ in solid xenon. This is only the third such atomic ion studied in a solid noble gas matrix. Two groups of emission peaks, each with similar excitation spectra, photobleaching behavior and temperature dependence, are identified that may be associated with transitions from a common excited state in a particular solid xenon matrix site. Favorable conditions are found for imaging of single Ba+ ions in solid xenon, including reasonably strong emission efficiency, acceptable photobleaching and a method for overcoming background emission from the surface of the cooled sapphire window. A comparison of the new excitation spectrum of Ba+ in solid xenon with unpublished results on spectroscopy of Ba+ in liquid xenon helps confirm the identification of the latter.
In this work, we optically resolve and detect individual rubidium atoms trapped in solid neon. Additionally, we optically pump the rubidium's spin state using polarized light and measure the spin state via laser-induced fluorescence. When combined with the previously demonstrated magnetic field sensing capabilities of matrix-isolated rubidium atoms, these results are very promising for nanoscale sensing and for performing nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of individual molecules cotrapped in the matrix. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
The electronic transitions of ytterbium atoms in a solid Xe matrix grown at 4.8 K are investigated. Absorption bands are detected in the regions of the gas-phase 6s2 1S0 → 4f135d6s2 and 6s2 1S0 → 6s6p 1P1 transitions. Both bands indicate that Yb atoms occupy multiple trapping sites, of which three are identified. Emission induced by the 6s2 1S0 → 6s6p 1P1 excitation is found to be concentrated entirely in the region of the 6s6p 3PJ → 6s2 1S0 decay, whereas the singlet emission is completely quenched. Multiple emission peaks are observed and the effects of annealing and prolonged irradiation on their amplitudes are found to be significant and are interpreted as a consequence of Yb population transfer from one type of site to another. Modeling of the ground-state site structure and stability predicts three Yb/Xe occupation types, substitutional (ss), tetravacancy (tv) and hexavacancy (hv), in order of decreasing stability. Their tentative associations with observed absorption and emission features are discussed. Time correlated single photon spectroscopy is used to determine the lifetimes of the individual emission bands. They are found to be different from each other with indications of a mixture of short- and long- lived 6s6p 3PJ fine-structure components and demonstrate distinct temperature dependencies. A dramatic decrease in the lifetime of the emission peak tentatively assigned to the most stable site with temperature is explained by a competition between the radiative and non-radiative decay paths of the 6s6p 3P1 state. The mechanism of the latter can be attributed to electron–phonon coupling as confirmed by a model of the temperature-dependence of the lifetime.
We present an exhaustive overview of optical absorption and laser-induced fluorescence lines of Ba atoms in liquid and solid helium matrices in visible and near-infrared spectral ranges. Due to the increased density of isolated atoms, we have found a large number of spectral lines that were not observed in condensed helium matrices before. We have also measured the lifetimes of metastable states. The lowest 3D1{}^{3}{D}_{1}3D1​ metastable state has lifetime of 2.6 s and can be used as an intermediate state in two-step excitations of high-lying states. Various matrix-induced radiationless population transfer channels have been identified.