Development of optical traps for cold atoms

Nir Friedman, Ariel Kaplan, Nir Davidson

沐仁旺 Mu Renwang, 纪宪明 Ji Xianming, 印建平 Yin Jianping

S. A. Kulin, S. Aubin, Steven Christe +3 more

We present an optical trap for atoms which we have developed for precision spectroscopy measurements. Cold atoms are captured in a dark region of space inside a blue-detuned hollow laser beam formed by an axicon. We analyse the light potential in a ray optics picture and experimentally demonstrate trapping of laser-cooled metastable xenon atoms.

Harold J. Metcalf, P. van der Straten

Mengbo Guo

Ultracold atoms provide a promising platform to study novel quantum phenomena in many-body systems and achieve quantum engineering applications. With increasing attention to atomic systems, versatile optical traps have been an important tool for controlling atoms and manipulating their quantum states. Here, we illustrate the recent development of versatile optical traps for neutral atoms. In the first part of the thesis, we discuss the fundamentals of ultracold atom experiments. We began with the properties of cold ytterbium atoms, especially 173Yb. Subsequently, the details of the experiment’s progress and experimental toolbox are provided. The second part of the thesis illustrates the recent development of optical traps by use of spatial light modulators and acousto-optic deflectors. We outline several immediate opportunities, such as the generation of uniform and linear optical potentials for cold atoms.

Li Li, Yi-Jia Liu, Xiaolong Zhou +6 more

Optical traps, including those used in atomic physics, cold chemistry, and quantum science, are widely used in the research on cold atoms and molecules. Owing to their microscopic structure and excellent operational capability, optical traps have been proposed for cold atom experiments involving complex physical systems, which generally induce violent background scattering. In this study, using a background-free imaging scheme in cavity quantum electrodynamics systems, a cold atomic ensemble was accurately prepared below a fiber cavity and loaded into an optical trap for transfer into the cavity. By satisfying the demanding requirements for the background-free imaging scheme in optical traps, cold atoms in an optical trap were detected with a high signal-to-noise ratio while maintaining atomic loading. The cold atoms were then transferred into the fiber cavity using an optical trap, and the vacuum Rabi splitting was measured, facilitating relevant research on cavity quantum electrodynamics. This method can be extended to related experiments involving cold atoms and molecules in complex physical systems using optical traps.