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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)

Parametric feedback cooling of a single atom inside an optical cavity

Tatjana Wilk, Christian Sames, Haytham Chibani, Christoph Hamsen, Anna Caroline Eckl, P. A. Altin, Gerhard Rempe

Published May 1, 2013• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

This paper demonstrates an efficient parametric feedback cooling of a single atom held in an intra-cavity standing wave dipole trap. In contrast to previous feedback strategies, this scheme cools the fast axial oscillation of the atom as well as the slower radial motion. In order to cool the system with this method, the modulation of the trap depth must be adjusted in amplitude and phase with respect to the atomic motion in real time to counteract it.

DOI
10.1109/cleoe-iqec.2013.6801623

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This paper demonstrates an efficient parametric feedback cooling of a single atom held in an intra-cavity standing wave dipole trap. In contrast to previous feedback strategies, this scheme cools the fast axial oscillation of the atom as well as the slower radial motion. In order to cool the system with this method, the modulation of the trap depth must be adjusted in amplitude and phase with respect to the atomic motion in real time to counteract it.
We demonstrate a feedback algorithm to cool a single neutral atom trapped inside a standing-wave optical cavity. The algorithm is based on parametric modulation of the confining potential at twice the natural oscillation frequency of the atom, in combination with fast and repetitive atomic position measurements. The latter serve to continuously adjust the modulation phase to a value for which parametric excitation of the atomic motion is avoided. Cooling is limited by the measurement backaction which decoheres the atomic motion after only a few oscillations. Nonetheless, applying this feedback scheme to an $\ensuremath{\sim}5$-kHz oscillation mode increases the average storage time of a single atom in the cavity by a factor of 60 to more than 2 s. In contrast to previous feedback schemes, our algorithm is also capable of cooling a much faster $\ensuremath{\sim}500$-kHz oscillation mode within just microseconds. This demonstrates that parametric cooling is a powerful technique that can be applied in all experiments where optical access is limited.
Recent realizations of single-atom trapping and tracking in cavity QED open the door for feedback schemes which actively stabilize the motion of a single atom in real time. We present feedback algorithms for cooling the radial component of motion for a single atom trapped by strong coupling to single-photon fields in an optical cavity. Performance of various algorithms is studied through simulations of single-atom trajectories, with full dynamical and measurement noise included. Closed loop feedback algorithms compare favorably to open-loop "switching" analogs, demonstrating the importance of applying actual position information in real time. The high optical information rate in current experiments enables real-time tracking that approaches the standard quantum limit for broadband position measurements, suggesting that realistic active feedback schemes may reach a regime where measurement backaction appreciably alters the motional dynamics.
Recent realizations of single-atom trapping and tracking in cavity QED open the door for feedback schemes which actively stabilize the motion of a single atom in real time. We present feedback algorithms for cooling the radial component of motion for a single atom trapped by strong coupling to single-photon fields in an optical cavity. Performance of various algorithms is studied through simulations of single-atom trajectories, with full dynamical and measurement noise included. Closed loop feedback algorithms compare favorably to open-loop "switching" analogs, demonstrating the importance of applying actual position information in real time. The high optical information rate in current experiments enables real-time tracking that approaches the standard quantum limit for broadband position measurements, suggesting that realistic active feedback schemes may reach a regime where measurement backaction appreciably alters the motional dynamics.
We consider the problem of controlling the motion of an atom trapped in an optical cavity using continuous feedback. In order to realize such a scheme experimentally, one must be able to perform state estimation of the atomic motion in real time. While in theory this estimate may be provided by a stochastic master equation describing the full dynamics of the observed system, integrating this equation in real time is impractical. Here we derive an approximate estimation equation for this purpose, and use it as a drive in a feedback algorithm designed to cool the motion of the atom. We examine the effectiveness of such a procedure using full simulations of the cavity QED system, including the quantized motion of the atom in one dimension.
A robust scheme for trapping and cooling atoms is described. It combines a deep dipole-trap which localizes the atom in the center of a cavity with a laser directly exciting the atom. In that way one obtains three-dimensional cooling while the atom is dipole-trapped. In particular, we identify a cooling force along the large spatial modulations of the trap. A feature of this setup, with respect to a dipole trap alone, is that all cooling forces keep a constant amplitude if the trap depth is increased simultaneously with the intensity of the probe laser. No strong coupling is required, which makes such a technique experimentally attractive. Several analytical expressions for the cooling forces and heating rates are derived and interpreted by analogy to ordinary laser cooling.