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Optics Letters

Trapping a single atom in a blue detuned optical bottle beam trap

Peng Xu, Xiaodong He, Jin Wang, Mingsheng Zhan

Published Jun 21, 2010• 167 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We demonstrate trapping a single rubidium atom in a blue detuned optical bottle beam trap. The trap was formed by a strongly focused blue detuned laser beam, which passes through a computer-generated circular pi phase hologram displayed on a spatial light modulator. Single atoms were loaded from a magneto-optical trap and stored in the optical trap for several seconds.

DOI
10.1364/ol.35.002164

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We demonstrate trapping a single rubidium atom in a blue detuned optical bottle beam trap. The trap was formed by a strongly focused blue detuned laser beam, which passes through a computer-generated circular pi phase hologram displayed on a spatial light modulator. Single atoms were loaded from a magneto-optical trap and stored in the optical trap for several seconds.
A scheme to trap atoms in a blue-detuned optical dipole trap, formed with a single laser beam and a holographic phase plate, is demonstrated. 105{10}^{5}105 rubidium atoms are trapped for (1/e lifetime) \ensuremath{\sim}300 msec, at temperatures of \ensuremath{\sim}24 \ensuremath{\mu}K and a density of $\ensuremath{\sim}7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{11}{\mathrm{a}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{s}/\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^{3},$ for a trapping beam detuning of 0.1--30 nm. The time for a trapped atom to scatter one photon off the trapping beam is measured and found to be linear in the trapping laser detuning. At a detuning of 0.5 nm from resonance this time was measured to be \ensuremath{\sim}100 msec, indicating that the atoms are exposed on average only to \ensuremath{\sim}1/700 of the maximal light intensity in the trap. The use of a single laser beam allows for simple dynamical changes of the potential and large adiabatic compressions, while keeping the atoms mainly in the dark.
We have demonstrated preparing and rotating single neutral rubidium atoms in an optical ring lattice generated by a spatial light modulator, inserting two atoms into a single microscopic optical potential efficiently by dynamically reshaping the optical dipole trap, trapping single atoms in a blue detuned optical bottle beam trap, and confining single atoms into the Lamb-Dicke regime by combining red and blue detuned optical potentials. In combination with the manipulation of internal states of single atoms, the study is opening a way for research in the field of quantum information processing and quantum simulation. In this paper we review the past works and discuss the prospects.
Summary form only given. Blue-detuned optical traps confine neutral atoms mostly in the dark, therefore reducing the perturbations induced by the trapping light on the atoms. Recently, traps based on a single laser beam were demonstrated, providing greater experimental simplicity and enabling dynamical changes of the trap geometry and strength. However, all these traps have a large difference in the potential strength in the radial and axial directions, resulting in a very inefficient use of the available laser power, and a poor loading efficiency from the magneto-optical trap. In this work we present a novel optical scheme to generate an optimal trap, which maximizes the trap depth, and greatly reduces the light-induced perturbations to the atoms. This is achieved by surrounding a dark volume with a light envelope having (a) an almost minimal surface area for a given volume, (b) the minimal wall thickness allowed by diffraction, and (c) an almost constant wall height on every point on the envelope. The stiffness of the walls, combined with the large detuning allowed by the efficient distribution of light intensity, yield a very low photon scattering rate for the trapped atoms.
A novel optical set-up which enables cold atoms to be trapped in a finite set of miniature (sub-wavelength) bottle traps is highlighted. These bottle traps are formed when the atoms interact with a tightly focused standing wave due to two-counter propagating optical vortex beams possessing the same winding number ℓ=±1\ell=\pm1ℓ=±1 and the same circular polarization (σ=∓1)\sigma=\mp 1)σ=∓1). Tight focusing generates strong longitudinal field components which become responsible for an on-axis standing wave. The resulting optical potential leads to the axial confinement of far blue-detuned atoms. This completes the formation of the bottle trap, since the off-axis radial confinement is, as usual, provided by the optical potential due to the interference of the transverse components of the light. The main characteristics of the bottle traps are illustrated using typical experimentally-accessible parameters. Due to the spin-orbit coupling the trap parameters are tunable by changing the ellipicity of the light.