A Response Surface Methodology Approach to Improve Adhesive Bonding of Pulsed Laser Treated CFRP Composites

In this work, a response surface-designed experiment approach was used to determine the optimal settings of laser treatment as a method of surface preparation for CFRP prior to bonding. A nanosecond pulsed Ytterbium-doped-fiber laser source was used in combination with a scanning system. A Face-centered Central Composite Design was used to model the tensile shear strength (TSS) of adhesive bonded joints and investigate the effects of varying three parameters, namely, power, pitch, and lateral overlap. The analysis was carried out considering different focal distances. For each set of joints, shear strength values were modeled using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to identify the set-up parameters that gave the best performance, determining any equivalent conditions from a statistical point of view. The regression models also allow the prediction of the behavior of the joints for not experimentally tested parameter settings, within the operating domain of investigation. This aspect is particularly important in consideration of the process optimization of the manufacturing cycle since it allows the maximization of joint efficiency by limiting the energy consumption for treatment

Beam Splitter for Spin Waves in Quantum Spin Network

We theoretically design and analytically study a controllable beam splitter for the spin wave propagating in a star-shaped (e.g., a $Y$-shaped beam) spin network. Such a solid state beam splitter can display quantum interference and quantum entanglement by the well-aimed controls of interaction on nodes. It will enable an elementary interferometric device for scalable quantum information processing based on the solid system.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, derivation of formulae change

An accelerator mode based technique for studying quantum chaos

We experimentally demonstrate a method for selecting small regions of phase space for kicked rotor quantum chaos experiments with cold atoms. Our technique uses quantum accelerator modes to selectively accelerate atomic wavepackets with localized spatial and momentum distributions. The potential used to create the accelerator mode and subsequently realize the kicked rotor system is formed by a set of off-resonant standing wave light pulses. We also propose a method for testing whether a selected region of phase space exhibits chaotic or regular behavior using a Ramsey type separated field experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, some modest revisions to previous version (esp. to the figures) to aid clarity; accepted for publication in Physical Review A (due out on January 1st 2003

Collisional relaxation of Feshbach molecules and three-body recombination in 87Rb Bose-Einstein condensates

We predict the resonance enhanced magnetic field dependence of atom-dimer relaxation and three-body recombination rates in a $^{87}$Rb Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) close to 1007 G. Our exact treatments of three-particle scattering explicitly include the dependence of the interactions on the atomic Zeeman levels. The Feshbach resonance distorts the entire diatomic energy spectrum causing interferences in both loss phenomena. Our two independent experiments confirm the predicted recombination loss over a range of rate constants that spans four orders of magnitude.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps figures (updated references

Transport of Bose-Einstein Condensates with Optical Tweezers

We have transported gaseous Bose-Einstein condensates over distances up to 44 cm. This was accomplished by trapping the condensate in the focus of an infrared laser and translating the location of the laser focus with controlled acceleration. Condensates of order 1 million atoms were moved into an auxiliary chamber and loaded into a magnetic trap formed by a Z-shaped wire. This transport technique avoids the optical and mechanical access constraints of conventional condensate experiments and creates many new scientific opportunities.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Open nonradiative cavities as millimeter wave single-mode resonators

Open single-mode metallic cavities operating in nonradiative configurations are proposed and demonstrated. Starting from well-known dielectric resonators, possible nonradiative cavities have been established; their behavior on the fundamental TE011 mode has been predicted on the basis of general considerations. As a result, very efficient confinement properties are expected for a wide variety of open structures having rotational invariance. Test cavities realized having in mind practical millimeter wave constraints have been characterized at microwave frequencies. The field distribution of some relevant configurations has been modeled by means of a finite-element numerical method. The obtained results confirm the expected high performances on widely open configurations. A possible excitation of the proposed resonators exploiting their nonradiative character is discussed, and the resulting overall ease of realization enlightened in view of millimeter wave employments.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures. Extended version including numerical modelings and a theoretical appendix. Original version published on Rev. Sci. Instru

Quantum Limits of Stochastic Cooling of a Bosonic Gas

The quantum limits of stochastic cooling of trapped atoms are studied. The energy subtraction due to the applied feedback is shown to contain an additional noise term due to atom-number fluctuations in the feedback region. This novel effect is shown to dominate the cooling efficiency near the condensation point. Furthermore, we show first results that indicate that Bose--Einstein condensation could be reached via stochastic cooling.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Matter-wave interferometry in a double well on an atom chip

Matter-wave interference experiments enable us to study matter at its most basic, quantum level and form the basis of high-precision sensors for applications such as inertial and gravitational field sensing. Success in both of these pursuits requires the development of atom-optical elements that can manipulate matter waves at the same time as preserving their coherence and phase. Here, we present an integrated interferometer based on a simple, coherent matter-wave beam splitter constructed on an atom chip. Through the use of radio-frequency-induced adiabatic double-well potentials, we demonstrate the splitting of Bose-Einstein condensates into two clouds separated by distances ranging from 3 to 80 microns, enabling access to both tunnelling and isolated regimes. Moreover, by analysing the interference patterns formed by combining two clouds of ultracold atoms originating from a single condensate, we measure the deterministic phase evolution throughout the splitting process. We show that we can control the relative phase between the two fully separated samples and that our beam splitter is phase-preserving

Chemical-potential standard for atomic Bose-Einstein condensates

When subject to an external time periodic perturbation of frequency $f$, a Josephson-coupled two-state Bose-Einstein condensate responds with a constant chemical potential difference $\Delta\mu=khf$, where $h$ is Planck's constant and $k$ is an integer. We propose an experimental procedure to produce ac-driven atomic Josephson devices that may be used to define a standard of chemical potential. We investigate how to circumvent some of the specific problems derived from the present lack of advanced atom circuit technology. We include the effect of dissipation due to quasiparticles, which is essential to help the system relax towards the exact Shapiro resonance, and set limits to the range of values which the various physical quantities must have in order to achieve a stable and accurate chemical potential difference between the macroscopic condensates.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Surface Effects in Magnetic Microtraps

We have investigated Bose-Einstein condensates and ultra cold atoms in the vicinity of a surface of a magnetic microtrap. The atoms are prepared along copper conductors at distances to the surface between 300 um and 20 um. In this range, the lifetime decreases from 20 s to 0.7 s showing a linear dependence on the distance to the surface. The atoms manifest a weak thermal coupling to the surface, with measured heating rates remaining below 500 nK/s. In addition, we observe a periodic fragmentation of the condensate and thermal clouds when the surface is approached.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; v2: corrected references; v3: final versio