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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics

Measuring atomic oscillator strengths by single atom spectroscopy

Jianwei Lee, Syed Abdullah Aljunid, Meng Khoon Tey, Brenda Chng, Gleb Maslennikov, Christian Kurtsiefer

Published Jan 1, 2009• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We propose a method for assessing the oscillator strengths of atomic transitions based on single atom spectroscopy. The method is based on a direct measurement of an AC Stark shift of atomic energy levels for the single atom trapped in an optical tweezer. The method is independent on a knowledge of the trapping field at the atom. The results can be applied to obtaining the previously unknown oscillator strengths for dipole transitions involving the first excited state of alkali metals.

DOI
10.1364/cleo.2009.jwa103

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We propose a method for assessing the oscillator strengths of atomic transitions based on single atom spectroscopy. The method is based on a direct measurement of an AC Stark shift of atomic energy levels for the single atom trapped in an optical tweezer. The method is independent on a knowledge of the trapping field at the atom. The results can be applied to obtaining the previously unknown oscillator strengths for dipole transitions involving the first excited state of alkali metals.
We present precise, sub-wavelength optical intensity measurement using a single trapped 87^{87}87Rb atom as a sensor. The intensity is measured by the scalar ac Stark shift it produces on the F=1→F′=2F=1 \rightarrow F'=2F=1→F′=2 hyperfine transition of the D2_{2}2​ line, chosen for its F′=F+1F' = F+1F′=F+1 structure and very small tensor polarizability. To boost signal and reduce measurement-induced perturbations, we use a quantum jump spectroscopy technique in which a single absorbed photon on a transition of interest induces the scattering of hundreds of photons on a bright closed transition. The method greatly reduces systematic effects associated with the atomic state, optical polarization, probe power, and atom heating, and gives the atomic temperature as a second spectroscopic observable. We demonstrate the method by measuring the intensity at the focus of an optical tweezer.
The energy shift of an atom due to its interaction with the oscillating electric field of an electromagnetic wave, or a laser light, is called the ac Stark shift. It has been studied both in the field of precision spectroscopy and atom optics. When the laser intensity is not constant spatially, its gradient gives rise to a dipole force. The force was used either to trap atoms in an optical trap or to reflect or guide atoms. We studied the ac Stark effect taking into account the fine structure of an alkali atom. We found that when the laser light is circularly polarized and properly detuned between the D1 and D2 transitions, the ac Stark shift can take the form of a pure Zeeman shift, hence the name analogous Zeeman shift.
We measure the ac Stark shifts of the $5{S}_{1/2},F=2\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5{P}_{3/2},{F}^{\ensuremath{'}}=3$ transitions of individual optically trapped 87{}^{87}87Rb atoms using a nondestructive detection technique that allows us to measure the fluorescent signal of one and the same atom for over 60 s. These measurements allow the efficient and rapid characterization of single-atom traps that is required for many coherent quantum information protocols. Although this method is demonstrated using a single-atom trap, the concept is readily extended to resolvable atomic arrays.
We have used two methods to measure the oscillator strength of the transition between the ground and 17992 cm-1 level in 174Yb. The first technique involves exciting the transition with a laser pulse that is nearly time-bandwidth limited, of uniform intensity, and has a reproducible shape from shot to shot. The population left in the excited state after the pulse varies sinusoidally with a period that depends on the integral over time of the electric field amplitude and the transition oscillator strength. These are the Rabi oscillations that are predicted by application of the Schrodinger equation to the two-level atom. The excited-state population is probed using a two-step photoionization to the continuum. The electric field amplitude is determined from the temporal profile and the intensity of the laser pulse. The second method involves observation of the polarization rotation of a set of degenerate sublevels brought about by a time-bandwidth limited light-shift laser. One sublevel (mj = 0) of the J = 1 level at 17992 cm-1 is populated by a linearly polarized laser. A second copropagating light-shift laser, which is linearly polarized at an angle to the first laser, is tuned between 7.5 and 30 GHz off-resonance with the transition. The light-shift laser causes population to be promoted into the mi = ±1 levels by a virtual transition through the ground J = 0, = 0 level. Two linearly polarized photoionizing lasers photoionize the population only from the mi = ±1 levels. The photoion signal oscillates sinusoidally with a period that depends only on the integrated pulse intensity, the laser detuning, and the transition oscillator strength.
Characterizing the trap-light-induced frequency shifts of optical Zeeman transitions is essential for the precise control of the interacting dynamics between optically trapped single atoms and external light fields. The closed hyperfine transition, for example, 6 S 1/2 | F = 4〉 → 6 P 3/2 | F ′ = 5〉 of the cesium (Cs) atom, is commonly used because of its high transition strength. However, within this hyperfine transition line, different Zeeman transitions experience distinct light shifts due to diverse susceptibilities to the light field, which are usually sorted as dynamic scalar, vector, and tensor polarizabilities. Here, we report an efficient method for measuring the light shifts of optical Zeeman transitions using single neutral atoms confined in an optical tweezer (OT). The method employs a weak probe beam together with an auxiliary optical pumping beam to manipulate the atomic population in ground states. In this way, population changes in a specific Zeeman state are mapped onto a different ground-state hyperfine manifold, allowing the optical spectrum of the Zeeman transition to be reconstructed through standard state-detection techniques. By using the method, we demonstrate the spectrum measurement of the open Zeeman transition 6 S 1/2 | F = 4, m F = 4〉 → 6 P 3/2 | F ′ = 5, m F ′ = 3〉 for a single Cs atom trapped in a π polarized OT. We further perform a systematic characterization of the tweezer-induced light shifts for both this open transition and the closed Zeeman transition 6 S 1/2 | F = 4, m F = 4〉 → 6 P 3/2 | F ′ = 5, m F ′ = 5〉 over a wide range of trap depths. The influence of the tensor polarizability in deep trap depths is experimentally observed.
Abstract We develop a method for extracting the physical parameters of interest for a conventional dipole-trapped cold atomic ensemble. This technique uses the spatially dependent ac-Stark shift of the trap itself to project the atomic distribution onto a light-shift broadened transmission spectrum. We develop a model that connects the atomic distribution with the expected transmission spectrum. We then demonstrate the utility of the technique by deriving the temperature, trap depth, lifetime, and trapped atom number from data that was taken in a single shot experimental measurement.