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Chinese Physics B

Generation of a blue-detuned optical storage ring by a metasurface and its application in optical trapping of cold molecules

Chen Ling, Yaling Yin, Yang Liu, Lin Li, Yong Xia

Published May 7, 2022• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A scheme for storage of cold molecules in a hollow optical ring generated by a metasurface grating is proposed. The characteristics and intensity distribution related to the ring’s structural parameters and fabrication error tolerance are theoretically studied. The optical potential and dipole force required for the ring to trap magnesium monofluoride (MgF) molecules are also calculated. The dynamic behavior of MgF molecules in the storage ring is simulated by a Monte Carlo method, which shows that a metasurface-based optical storage ring can be used to trap molecules and is an interesting platform for research into ultracold quantum gases and their quantum-state manipulation.

DOI
10.1088/1674-1056/ac6db0

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A scheme for storage of cold molecules in a hollow optical ring generated by a metasurface grating is proposed. The characteristics and intensity distribution related to the ring’s structural parameters and fabrication error tolerance are theoretically studied. The optical potential and dipole force required for the ring to trap magnesium monofluoride (MgF) molecules are also calculated. The dynamic behavior of MgF molecules in the storage ring is simulated by a Monte Carlo method, which shows that a metasurface-based optical storage ring can be used to trap molecules and is an interesting platform for research into ultracold quantum gases and their quantum-state manipulation.
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Optical ring lattices containing multiple optical traps in a ring configuration have gradually evolved into indispensable tools in cold atom experiments. However, the conventional methods for generating optical ring lattices require bulky apparatus and work at a limited wavelength range. Recently, metasurfaces have emerged as promising ultra-compact platforms for the implementation of optical ring lattices. Here, we report the generation of ultraviolet optical ring lattices using monolithic AlN metasurfaces. The feasibility of trapping atom and atom-like systems in the optical ring lattices is validated through theoretical calculation of the optical forces using the dipole model. The adoption of AlN metasurfaces can reduce the size and cost of generating optical ring lattices and thus give rise to diverse applications such as transportable atom clocks.
An enhanced or improved far-field-diffracted optical dipole trap with a red or blue detuning for cold atoms or molecules on an optical chip is proposed, and our trap scheme is formed by an optical system composed of a binary phase plate and a circular aperture illuminated by a plane light wave. The relative radial and axial intensity distributions of the far-field optical trap and its optical potentials for 87Rb atoms are calculated, and the dependences of the relative intensity of the far-field optical trap and its well depth on the modulated phase φ of the phase plate are studied. Also, the feasibility of our enhanced far-field optical trap is analyzed, and some potential applications of our optical trap are briefly discussed. Our research shows that some geometric and optical parameters of the far-field optical trap can be greatly improved, and the evolution of the far-field optical trap from a red-detuned optical trap to a blue-detuned one can be realized by using our proposed binary phase plate. Particularly, with the change of the modulated phase φ from 0 to −π, the maximum intensity (i.e., the well depth) of the far-field optical trap and its trapping volume will be increased by about four and eight times, respectively. While the modulated phase φ of the phase plate is changed from 0 to π, a red-detuned optical trap will be evolved as a blue-detuned one, and the corresponding trapping intensity and volume will be enhanced by about 4 times. So such an enhanced far-field optical trap scheme has some important applications in the fields of laser cooling and trapping; atomic, molecular, and optical physics; integrated atom or molecule optics; quantum information science; and so on.
Abstract We propose a promising scheme to prepare ultracold MgF molecules from a slowed cold molecular beam by using three-dimensional pure intensity-gradient induced Sisyphus cooling. The cooling is based on a blue-detuned localized hollow beam and a weak repumping beam. We investigate the dynamic process in the trap with the method of the Monte-Carlo simulations, verifying the feasibility. Our results show that achieving sub-Doppler temperature should be possible in such a well-designed trap; the trapped MgF molecules with initial temperature of 1 mK can be directly cooled to the final equilibrium temperature of about 46.5 μ K , well below the Doppler limit (about 527.9 μ K for MgF); meanwhile, molecules with initial temperature of 14 mK can be even cooled to about 68.7 μ K .