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Acta Physica Sinica

Transferring single-atoms between two red-detuned far-off-resonance optical dipole traps

Cheng Wang, Peng Xu, Xiaodong He, Wang Jin, Mingsheng Zhan

Published Jan 1, 2012• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

The preparation and manipulation of single neutral atoms in optical dipole traps have important applications in quantum simulation and information. For this purpose, a single neutral atom, trapped in a static optical dipole trap which is formed by a strongly focused red-detuned far-off-resonance laser, can be transferred to a movable optical dipole trap when the movable trap crosses the static trap and the transfer efficiency can reach about 94%, meanwhile this transferred atom could be located at given position in the focal plane. This experimental result has potential applications in realizing entanglement of two individual neutral atoms in an optical dipole trap array.

DOI
10.7498/aps.61.203701

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The preparation and manipulation of single neutral atoms in optical dipole traps have important applications in quantum simulation and information. For this purpose, a single neutral atom, trapped in a static optical dipole trap which is formed by a strongly focused red-detuned far-off-resonance laser, can be transferred to a movable optical dipole trap when the movable trap crosses the static trap and the transfer efficiency can reach about 94%, meanwhile this transferred atom could be located at given position in the focal plane. This experimental result has potential applications in realizing entanglement of two individual neutral atoms in an optical dipole trap array.
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Single neutral atoms are interesting candidates for serving as qubits, the elementary objects of quantum information processing. We give an overview of experimental methods which allow us to prepare, detect, and manipulate individual neutral atoms with excellent efficiency in an optical dipole trap. We have measured long coherence times for atomic quantum state superpositions and identified the relevant decoherence mechanisms. As an application we have constructed a neutral atom quantum register from a string of atoms which can be selectively prepared in arbitrary quantum states.
This thesis presents experiments concerning the preparation and manipulation of single neutral atoms in optical traps. The experimental setup as well as the properties of the optical dipole trap are described. The examination and control of all trapping parameters and heating effects is a prerequisite for the future realization of quantum gates. A magneto-optical trap captures and cools down a few cesium atoms. By efficiently detecting their fluorescence, we are able to determine their exact number. They are then transferred without loss into a standing-wave optical dipole trap. The temperature of the atoms in this trap is measured using two methods which are devised to work with small numbers of atoms: By adiabatically lowering the trap depth, an energy-selective loss of atoms is obtained, which yields the energy distribution of the atoms in the trap. Alternatively, the temperature is inferred from the size of the cloud and from the oscillation frequencies of the atoms in the dipole trap. The oscillation frequencies are determined using resonant and parametric excitation. Various intrinsic as well as technical heating mechanisms in the dipole trap are examined experimentally and theoretically. Finally, the setup of a miniature ultra-high finesse optical resonator is presented, which will be used to couple two trapped atoms via the exchange of a photon. The optical resonance frequency of the resonator is successfully stabilized to the atomic transition by an electronic servo loop.
Based on our work on single cesium atoms trapped in a large-magnetic-gradient vapour-cell magneto-optical trap (MOT), the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is remarkably improved. Also a far-off-resonance optical dipole trap (FORT) formed by a strongly-focused 1064 nm single frequency Nd:YVO 4 laser beam is introduced. One cesium atom is prepared in the MOT, and then it can transfer successfully between the MOT and the FORT which is overlapped with the MOT. Utilizing the effective transfer, the lifetime of single atoms trapped in the FORT is measured to be 6.9 ± 0.3 s. Thus we provide a system where the atomic qubit can be coherently manipulated.
Neutral atoms trapped by laser light are among the most promising candidates for storing and processing information in a quantum computer or simulator. The application certainly calls for a scalable and flexible scheme for addressing and manipulating the atoms. We have now made this a reality by implementing a fast and versatile method to dynamically control the position of neutral atoms trapped in optical tweezers. The tweezers result from a spatial light modulator (SLM) controlling and shaping a large number of optical dipole-force traps. Trapped atoms adapt to any change in the potential landscape, such that one can rearrange and randomly access individual sites within atom-trap arrays.
Optical dipole traps and atom chips are two very powerful tools for the quantum manipulation of neutral atoms. We demonstrate that both methods can be combined by creating an optical lattice potential on an atom chip. A red-detuned laser beam is retroreflected using the atom chip surface as a high-quality mirror, generating a vertical array of purely optical oblate traps. We transfer thermal atoms from the chip into the lattice and observe cooling into the two-dimensional regime. Using a chip-generated Bose-Einstein condensate, we demonstrate coherent Bloch oscillations in the lattice.