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Optics Letters

Detection of atomic interference through collective radiation

C. Schnurr, T. A. Savard, L. J. Wang, John E. Thomas

Published Feb 15, 1995• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We demonstrate a unique atomic interferometer employing collective radiation from the atoms to measure the atomic phase. Atomic coherence is detected by interference of a continuous free-induction decay field and a continuous photon-echo field that originate in spatially separated regions of an atomic beam. Using this system, we measure the 180° phase shift of a J = 0 atomic state that undergoes a 2π-rotation of the Bloch vector or a two-level optical transition.

DOI
10.1364/ol.20.000413

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We demonstrate a unique atomic interferometer employing collective radiation from the atoms to measure the atomic phase. Atomic coherence is detected by interference of a continuous free-induction decay field and a continuous photon-echo field that originate in spatially separated regions of an atomic beam. Using this system, we measure the 180° phase shift of a J = 0 atomic state that undergoes a 2π-rotation of the Bloch vector or a two-level optical transition.
We describe a collective-state atomic interferometer (COSAIN) with the signal fringe as a function of phase difference or rotation narrowed by N\sqrt{N}N​ compared to a conventional interferometer, NNN being the number of atoms, without entanglement. This effect arises from the interferences among collective states, and is a manifestation of interference at a Compton frequency of $10\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}{10}^{30}$ Hz, or a de Broglie wavelength of 4.5 femtometer, for N=106N={10}^{6}N=106 and v=1v=1v=1 m/s. The population of the collective state of interest is detected by a null measurement scheme, in which an event corresponding to detection of zero photons corresponds to the system being in that particular collective state. The signal is detected by collecting fluorescence through stimulated Raman scattering of Stokes photons, which are emitted predominantly against the direction of the probe beam, for a high enough resonant optical density. The sensitivity of the ideal COSAIN is found to be given by the standard quantum limit. However, when detection efficiency and collection efficiency are taken into account, the detection scheme of the COSAIN increases the quantum efficiency of detection significantly in comparison to a typical conventional Raman atomic interferometer employing fluorescence detection, yielding a net improvement in stability by as much as a factor of 10. We discuss how the inhomogeneities arising from the nonuniformity in experimental parameters affect the COSAIN signal. We also describe an alternate experimental scheme to enhance resonant optical density in a COSAIN by using cross-linearly polarized counterpropagating Raman beams.
We consider the interference of atoms caused by the wave nature of their motion. Coherently interfering beams of particles may be obtained by using the diffraction of atoms from separated standing waves resonant with the transition between the ground and excited states of the atoms. Interference arises with and without spatial separation of the diffracted atomic beams. A problem concerning two-quantum perturbation of the wave function of an atom in the ground state by a standing-wave field has been solved. Both amplitude and phase perturbation are taken into account. We show that in spite of the absence of coherence in the incident beam and a rapid decay of the coherence induced by the standing wave for scattered spatially overlapping beams, the interference can be observed for the conditions of an echo. We first consider the phenomenon of an echo under the quantum-mechanical action of light on the translational degrees of freedom. We show that owing to this phenomenon phase memory can be transferred through the ground state over unlimitedly large distances. Owing to the interference of the density harmonics, a periodic structure in the spatial distribution of the atomic density with a period of less than one wavelength of the light is localized at distances of the order of the distance between the fields. The harmonic amplitude is calculated for instantaneous excitation in the case in which the duration of the excitation is comparable with the backward Doppler linewidth in the beam and for scattering under Bragg conditions. In the latter case we show that the effective temperature of the atoms participating in the interference is less than one recoil energy.
We report the observation of continuous spatial photon echoes in a magnetically compensated supersonic beam of atomic samarium. Atoms cross two spatially separated cw laser pump fields to produce an intense cw echo downstream. In contrast to previous studies of continuous coherent radiation in separated fields, the signals are readily observable with the unaided eye. The echo signal, which is generated in a magnetic-field gradient, differs from usual rephasing phenomena owing to a quadratic time dependence for the optical phase in the frame of the moving atoms.
We describe a detector that measures the mutual coherence of two optical fields directly using quantum interference, free from photon noise of the individual irradiances. Our approach utilizes Raman transition in an atomic system where the state evolution is driven by the mutual coherence of the fields interacting with the atoms. Feedback control is used to balance the interaction of the fields being characterized, providing a measure of the mutual coherence. We show that the sensitivity of the coherence measurement can be enhanced significantly above that of conventional interferometric methods when the mutual coherence of the two fields is weak.
We report a novel method for the observation of photon echoes and other coherent transient effects. In this method, the polarization, direction, and frequency of the polarized coherent radiation emitted by a system are switched by optical pulses. We apply this method to detect photon echoes generated on the $6{P}_{\frac{1}{2}}\ensuremath{-}7{S}_{\frac{1}{2}}$ transition in atomic thallium by two collinear and vertically polarized excitation pulses which are separated by 20 nsec. At the time of the echo, two orthogonally polarized probe pulses resonant with the $6{P}_{\frac{3}{2}}\ensuremath{-}7{S}_{\frac{1}{2}}$ transition of atomic thallium are applied to the sample to switch the photon echo from its original polarization and direction. A horizontally polarized photon echo with its propagation vector turned by about 10 mrad and its axis of polarization rotated by 90\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} is detected. No electro-optical shutter is used in the experiment. The echo signal disappears either when one of the probe pulses is blocked or when both probe pulses are horizontally or vertically polarized. Echo polarization switching is also demonstrated using an unpolarized probe pulse applied prior to the echo formation time.