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Entropy

Two-Atom Collisions and the Loading of Atoms in Microtraps

Y. H. Fung, Alicia V. Carpentier, Pimonpan Sompet, Mikkel F. Andersen

Published Jan 16, 2014• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We review light assisted collisions in a high-density far-off resonant optical trap (FORT). By tuning the parameters of the light that induces the collisions, the effects of the collisions can be controlled. Trap loss can be suppressed even at high atomic densities, allowing us to count the atoms using fluorescence detection. When only two atoms are trapped, individual loss events reveal new information about the process, and the simplicity of the system allows for a numerical simulation of the dynamics. By optimizing the experimental parameters, we implement an efficient method to prepare single atoms in the FORT. Our methods can be extended to load quantum registers for quantum information processing.

DOI
10.3390/e16010582

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We review light assisted collisions in a high-density far-off resonant optical trap (FORT). By tuning the parameters of the light that induces the collisions, the effects of the collisions can be controlled. Trap loss can be suppressed even at high atomic densities, allowing us to count the atoms using fluorescence detection. When only two atoms are trapped, individual loss events reveal new information about the process, and the simplicity of the system allows for a numerical simulation of the dynamics. By optimizing the experimental parameters, we implement an efficient method to prepare single atoms in the FORT. Our methods can be extended to load quantum registers for quantum information processing.
The fact that a single neutral atom stored in an optical micro-trap is very well isolated from the environment makes it attractive for application in a quantum logic device. Scaling such a device requires a consistent and efficient method of loading a single atom into the micro-trap. By inducing light-assisted collisions between trapped pairs of atoms we observe the outcome of individual collision events. This allowed us to devise a method that enables a loading efficiency of 83% of a single atom into a micro-trap. Furthermore, we are able to accurately count the small number of atoms using fluorescence imaging at high densities while minimizing loss through light assisted collisions.
The fact that a single neutral atom stored in an optical micro-trap is very well isolated from the environment makes it attractive for application in a quantum logic device. Scaling such a device requires a consistent and efficient method of loading a single atom into the micro-trap. By inducing light-assisted collisions between trapped pairs of atoms we observe the outcome of individual collision events. This allowed us to devise a method that enables a loading efficiency of 83% of a single atom into a micro-trap. Furthermore, we are able to accurately count the small number of atoms using fluorescence imaging at high densities while minimizing loss through light assisted collisions.
We investigate the use of light assisted collisions for the deterministic preparation of individual atoms in a microtrap. Blue detuned light is used in order to ensure that only one of the collision partners is lost from the trap. We obtain a 91% loading efficiency of single 85 Rb atoms. This can be achieved within a total preparation time of 542 ms. A numerical model of the process quantitatively agrees with the experiment giving an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of the process and allowing us to identify the factors that still limit the loading efficiency. The fast loading time in combination with the high efficiency may be sufficient for loading quantum registers at the size required for competitive quantum computing.
We study the dynamics of atoms in optical traps when exposed to laser cooling light that induces light-assisted collisions. We experimentally prepare individual atom pairs and observe their evolution. Due to the simplicity of the system (just two atoms in a microtrap) we can directly simulate the pair's dynamics, thereby revealing detailed insight into it. We find that often only one of the collision partners gets expelled, similar to when using blue detuned light for inducing the collisions. This enhances schemes for using light-assisted collisions to prepare individual atoms and affects other applications as well.
The detailed control achieved over single optically trapped neutral atoms makes them candidates for applications in quantum metrology and quantum information processing. The last few decades have seen different methods developed to optimize the preparation efficiency of single atoms in optical traps. Here we review the near-deterministic preparation of single atoms based on light-assisted collisions and describe how this method can be implemented in different trap regimes. The simplicity and versatility of the method makes it feasible to be employed in future quantum technologies such as a quantum logic device.
We show that controlled inelastic collisions can improve the single atom loading efficiency in the collisional blockade regime of optical microtraps. A collisional loss process where only one of the colliding atoms is lost, implemented during loading, enables us to kick out one of the atoms as soon as a second atom enters the optical microtrap. When this happens faster than the pair loss, which has limited the loading efficiency of previous experiments to about 50%, we experimentally observe an enhancement to 80%. A simple analytical theory predicts the loading dynamics. Our results open up an efficient and fast route for loading individual atoms into optical tweezers and arrays of microtraps that are too tight for easy implementation of the method reported in [ 1 , 2 ]. The loading of tight traps with single atoms is a requirement for their applications in future experiments in quantum information processing and few-body physics.