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Physics-Uspekhi

Ultracold lanthanides: from optical clock to a quantum simulator

Gulnara A. Vishnyakova, Artem A. Golovizin, Елена Сергеевна Калганова, В. Н. Сорокин, Денис Дмитриевич Сукачев, Dmitry O. Tregubov, Ksenia Yu. Khabarova, N. Kolachevsky

Published Feb 14, 2016• 22 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We review the current research on precision spectroscopy and quantum optics applications of laser-cooled lanthanides. We discuss the specific electronic structure of hollow atoms, which determine prospects for application in optical frequency standards and in quantum simulators based on spin interactions in optical lattices. Using the example of the thulium atom, we describe the specifics of laser cooling, optical lattice trapping techniques, and clock transition spectroscopy using spectrally narrow lasers.

DOI
10.3367/ufne.0186.201602h.0176

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•Jan 1, 2008•0 citations
We review the current research on precision spectroscopy and quantum optics applications of laser-cooled lanthanides. We discuss the specific electronic structure of hollow atoms, which determine prospects for application in optical frequency standards and in quantum simulators based on spin interactions in optical lattices. Using the example of the thulium atom, we describe the specifics of laser cooling, optical lattice trapping techniques, and clock transition spectroscopy using spectrally narrow lasers.
We discuss current progress in laser cooling of lanthanides (Er, Yb, Dy, Tm etc.) focusing on applications. We describe some important peculiarities taking Thulium atom as an example: Two stage laser cooling, trapping in an optical lattice, anisotropic interactions and spectroscopy of narrow transitions. Specific level structure and presence of magic wavelengths make ultracold Thulium a favorable candidate for optical clock applications. On the other hand, abundance of Feshbach resonances allow to tune interactions in ultracold gases and thus reach quantum degeneracy. It opens intriguing perspectives for novel quantum simulators employing dipole-dipole interactions in an optical lattice.
The method of laser cooling of atoms, first implemented in the early 1980s at the Institute of Spectroscopy of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISAN), turned out to be an exceptionally powerful tool that provided revolutionary breakthroughs in such areas as quantum sensorics, the physics of Bose±Einstein and Fermi-condensates, quantum informatics, and many others.It was precisely due to the laser cooling method that atomic fountains Ð the most accurate microwave clocks Ð made their appearance, and impetus was lent to the area of optical frequency standards, which today have surpassed the relative error of 10 À18 .In this review, dedicated to the 55th anniversary of the founding of ISAN, we will present some modern methods and experimental results aimed at the development of optical clocks on thulium atoms.In addition to the review part, the paper demonstrates a new experimental protocol for the preparation of thulium atoms using sideband cooling of the spectrally narrow 506.2-nm transition.Ensembles of atoms in the initial states of clock transitions in the ground vibrational sublevel of the optical lattice have been attained.
Lanthanide atoms have an unusual electron configuration, with a partially filled shell of fff orbitals. This leads to a set of characteristic properties that enable enhanced control over ultracold atoms and their interactions: large numbers of optical transitions with widely varying wavelengths and transition strengths, anisotropic interaction properties between atoms and with light, and a large magnetic moment and spin space present in the ground state. These features in turn enable applications ranging from narrow-line laser cooling and spin manipulation to evaporative cooling through universal dipolar scattering, to the observation of a rotonic dispersion relation, self-bound liquid-like droplets stabilized by quantum fluctuations, and supersolid states. In this short review, we describe how the unusual level structure of lanthanide atoms leads to these key features, and provide a brief and necessarily partial overview of experimental progress in this rapidly developing field.
Cooling and trapping of neutral atoms using laser techniques has enabled extensive progress in precise, coherent spectroscopy. In particular, trapping ultracold atoms in optical lattices in a tight confinement regime allows us to perform high-resolution spectroscopy unaffected by atomic motion. We report on the recent developments of optical lattice atomic clocks that have led to optical spectroscopy coherent at the one second timescale. The lattice clock techniques also open a promising pathway toward trapped ultracold molecules and the possible precision measurement opportunities such molecules offer.
We propose to use the magnetic-dipole transition at coupling two ground state fine-structure components of thulium (Tm), as a 'clock transition' in optical clocks. We have demonstrated first stage laser cooling of Tm atoms down to a temperature of 25 K using a strong transition at and we have also shown preliminary results for second stage cooling using a weaker transition at (natural linewidth γ G = 350 kHz). Laser cooled atoms have been trapped in an optical dipole trap and in a 1D optical lattice operating near 532 nm.
— Modern capabilities in quantum state engineering of ultracold matter and precise control of light fields now permit accurate control of interactions between matter and field to suit applications for precision tests of fundamental physics. We report on our recent development of a highly stable and accurate optical atomic clock based on ultracold neutral Sr atoms confined in an optical lattice. We discuss precision tools for the lattice clock, including stabilized lasers with sub-Hz linewidth, femtosecond-comb based technology allowing accurate clock comparison in both microwave and optical domains, and clock transfer over optical fibers. With microkelvin Sr atoms confined in an optical lattice that provide a zero differential a.c. Stark shift between two clock states, we achieve a resonance quality factor >2×10 on the S0 − P0 doubly forbidden Sr clock transition at 698 nm. High resolution spectroscopy of spin-polarized atoms is used for both high-performance clock operations and accurate atomic structure measurement. The overall systematic uncertainty of the clock has been evaluated at the 10−16 level, while the stability approaches low 10−15 at 1 s. These developments in precise engineering of lightatom interactions can be extended to the field of ultracold molecules, bringing new prospects for precision measurements, quantum control, and determinations of the constancy of the fundamental constants.