Photoionization and Photoelectric Loading of Barium Ion Traps

Simple and effective techniques for loading barium ions into linear Paul traps are demonstrated. Two-step photoionization of neutral barium is achieved using a weak intercombination line (6s2 1S0 6s6p 3P1, 791 nm) followed by excitation above the ionization threshold using a nitrogen gas laser (337 nm). Isotopic selectivity is achieved by using a near Doppler-free geometry for excitation of the triplet 6s6p 3P1 state. Additionally, we report a particularly simple and efficient trap loading technique that employs an in-expensive UV epoxy curing lamp to generate photoelectrons.Comment: 5 pages, Accepted to PRA 3/20/2007 -fixed typo -clarified figure 3 caption -added reference [15

Superconducting, Insulating, and Anomalous Metallic Regimes in a Gated Two-Dimensional Semiconductor-Superconductor Array

The superconductor-insulator transition in two dimensions has been widely investigated as a paradigmatic quantum phase transition. The topic remains controversial, however, because many experiments exhibit a metallic regime with saturating low-temperature resistance, at odds with conventional theory. Here, we explore this transition in a novel, highly controllable system, a semiconductor heterostructure with epitaxial Al, patterned to form a regular array of superconducting islands connected by a gateable quantum well. Spanning nine orders of magnitude in resistance, the system exhibits regimes of superconducting, metallic, and insulating behavior, along with signatures of flux commensurability and vortex penetration. An in-plane magnetic field eliminates the metallic regime, restoring the direct superconductor-insulator transition, and improves scaling, while strongly altering the scaling exponent

Non-Destructive Identification of Cold and Extremely Localized Single Molecular Ions

A simple and non-destructive method for identification of a single molecular ion sympathetically cooled by a single laser cooled atomic ion in a linear Paul trap is demonstrated. The technique is based on a precise determination of the molecular ion mass through a measurement of the eigenfrequency of a common motional mode of the two ions. The demonstrated mass resolution is sufficiently high that a particular molecular ion species can be distinguished from other equally charged atomic or molecular ions having the same total number of nucleons

Infrared and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of Acetylacetone and Hexafluoroacetylacetone

The infrared and near-infrared spectra of acetylacetone, acetylacetone-d8, and hexafluoroacetylacetone are characterized from experiment and computations at different levels. In the fundamental region, the intramolecular hydrogen bonded OH-stretching transition is clearly observed as a very broad band with substantial structure and located at significantly lower frequency compared to common OH-stretching frequencies. There is no clear evidence for OH-stretching overtone transitions in the near-infrared region, which is dominated by the CH-stretching overtones of the methine and methyl CH bonds. From molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, with a potential energy surface previously validated for tunneling splittings, the infrared spectra are determined and used in assigning the experimentally measured ones. It is found that the simulated spectrum in the region associated with the proton transfer mode is exquisitely sensitive to the height of the barrier for proton transfer. Comparison of the experimental and the MD simulated spectra establishes that the barrier height is around 2.5 kcal/mol, which favorably compares with 3.2 kcal/mol obtained from high-level electronic structure calculations

Distinguishing coherent and thermal photon noise in a circuit QED system

In the cavity-QED architecture, photon number fluctuations from residual cavity photons cause qubit dephasing due to the AC Stark effect. These unwanted photons originate from a variety of sources, such as thermal radiation, leftover measurement photons, and crosstalk. Using a capacitively-shunted flux qubit coupled to a transmission line cavity, we demonstrate a method that identifies and distinguishes coherent and thermal photons based on noise-spectral reconstruction from time-domain spin-locking relaxometry. Using these measurements, we attribute the limiting dephasing source in our system to thermal photons, rather than coherent photons. By improving the cryogenic attenuation on lines leading to the cavity, we successfully suppress residual thermal photons and achieve $T_1$-limited spin-echo decay time. The spin-locking noise spectroscopy technique can readily be applied to other qubit modalities for identifying general asymmetric non-classical noise spectra

Atomic Diffusion and Mixing in Old Stars I. VLT/FLAMES-UVES Observations of Stars in NGC 6397

We present a homogeneous photometric and spectroscopic analysis of 18 stars along the evolutionary sequence of the metal-poor globular cluster NGC 6397 ([Fe/H] = -2), from the main-sequence turnoff point to red giants below the bump. The spectroscopic stellar parameters, in particular stellar-parameter differences between groups of stars, are in good agreement with broad-band and Stroemgren photometry calibrated on the infrared-flux method. The spectroscopic abundance analysis reveals, for the first time, systematic trends of iron abundance with evolutionary stage. Iron is found to be 31% less abundant in the turnoff-point stars than in the red giants. An abundance difference in lithium is seen between the turnoff-point and warm subgiant stars. The impact of potential systematic errors on these abundance trends (stellar parameters, the hydrostatic and LTE approximations) is quantitatively evaluated and found not to alter our conclusions significantly. Trends for various elements (Li, Mg, Ca, Ti and Fe) are compared with stellar-structure models including the effects of atomic diffusion and radiative acceleration. Such models are found to describe the observed element-specific trends well, if extra (turbulent) mixing just below the convection zone is introduced. It is concluded that atomic diffusion and turbulent mixing are largely responsible for the sub-primordial stellar lithium abundances of warm halo stars. Other consequences of atomic diffusion in old metal-poor stars are also discussed.Comment: 20 pages (emulateapj), 11 figures, accepted for publication in Ap