48 research outputs found
Controlling the phase of a light beam with a single molecule
We employ heterodyne interferometry to investigate the effect of a single
organic molecule on the phase of a propagating laser beam. We report on the
first phase-contrast images of individual molecules and demonstrate a
single-molecule electro-optical phase switch by applying a voltage to the
microelectrodes embedded in the sample. Our results may find applications in
single-molecule holography, fast optical coherent signal processing, and
single-emitter quantum operations
Demonstration of a state-insensitive, compensated nanofiber trap
We report the experimental realization of an optical trap that localizes single Cs atoms â 215
nm from surface of a dielectric nanober. By operating at magic wavelengths for pairs of counterpropagating
red- and blue-detuned trapping beams, dierential scalar light shifts are eliminated, and
vector shifts are suppressed by â 250. We thereby measure an absorption linewidth Î/2Ï = 5.7 ± 0.1
MHz for the Cs 6S_(1/2), F = 4 â 6P_(3/2), F' = 5 transition, where Î_0/2Ï = 5.2 MHz in free space.
Optical depth d â 66 is observed, corresponding to an optical depth per atom d_1 â 0.08. These
advances provide an important capability for the implementation of functional quantum optical
networks and precision atomic spectroscopy near dielectric surfaces
Ab-initio Quantum Enhanced Optical Phase Estimation Using Real-time Feedback Control
Optical phase estimation is a vital measurement primitive that is used to
perform accurate measurements of various physical quantities like length,
velocity and displacements. The precision of such measurements can be largely
enhanced by the use of entangled or squeezed states of light as demonstrated in
a variety of different optical systems. Most of these accounts however deal
with the measurement of a very small shift of an already known phase, which is
in stark contrast to ab-initio phase estimation where the initial phase is
unknown. Here we report on the realization of a quantum enhanced and fully
deterministic phase estimation protocol based on real-time feedback control.
Using robust squeezed states of light combined with a real-time Bayesian
estimation feedback algorithm, we demonstrate deterministic phase estimation
with a precision beyond the quantum shot noise limit. The demonstrated protocol
opens up new opportunities for quantum microscopy, quantum metrology and
quantum information processing.Comment: 5 figure
Entanglement-enhanced probing of a delicate material system
Quantum metrology uses entanglement and other quantum effects to improve the
sensitivity of demanding measurements. Probing of delicate systems demands high
sensitivity from limited probe energy and has motivated the field's key
benchmark-the standard quantum limit. Here we report the first
entanglement-enhanced measurement of a delicate material system. We
non-destructively probe an atomic spin ensemble by means of near-resonant
Faraday rotation, a measurement that is limited by probe-induced scattering in
quantum-memory and spin-squeezing applications. We use narrowband,
atom-resonant NOON states to beat the standard quantum limit of sensitivity by
more than five standard deviations, both on a per-photon and per-damage basis.
This demonstrates quantum enhancement with fully realistic loss and noise,
including variable-loss effects. The experiment opens the way to ultra-gentle
probing of single atoms, single molecules, quantum gases and living cells.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures; Nature Photonics, advance online publication, 16
December 201
Recommended from our members
Concise total syntheses of (â)-jorunnamycin A and (â)-jorumycin enabled by asymmetric catalysis
The bis-tetrahydroisoquinoline (bis-THIQ) natural products have been studied intensively over the past four decades for their exceptionally potent anticancer activity, in addition to strong gram-positive and -negative antibiotic character. Synthetic strategies toward these complex polycyclic compounds have relied heavily on electrophilic aromatic chemistry, such as the Pictet-Spengler reaction, that mimics their biosynthetic pathways. Herein we report an approach to two bis-THIQ natural products, jorunnamycin A and jorumycin, that instead harnesses the power of modern transition-metal catalysis for the three major bond-forming events and proceeds with high efficiency (15 and 16 steps, respectively). By breaking from biomimicry, this strategy allows for the preparation of a more diverse set of non-natural analogs
Generation of a wave packet tailored to efficient free space excitation of a single atom
We demonstrate the generation of an optical dipole wave suitable for the
process of efficiently coupling single quanta of light and matter in free
space. We employ a parabolic mirror for the conversion of a transverse beam
mode to a focused dipole wave and show the required spatial and temporal
shaping of the mode incident onto the mirror. The results include a proof of
principle correction of the parabolic mirror's aberrations. For the application
of exciting an atom with a single photon pulse we demonstrate the creation of a
suitable temporal pulse envelope. We infer coupling strengths of 89% and
success probabilities of up to 87% for the application of exciting a single
atom for the current experimental parameters.Comment: to be published in Europ. Phys. J.
Photon-Atom Coupling with Parabolic Mirrors
Efficient coupling of light to single atomic systems has gained considerable
attention over the past decades. This development is driven by the continuous
growth of quantum technologies. The efficient coupling of light and matter is
an enabling technology for quantum information processing and quantum
communication. And indeed, in recent years much progress has been made in this
direction. But applications aside, the interaction of photons and atoms is a
fundamental physics problem. There are various possibilities for making this
interaction more efficient, among them the apparently 'natural' attempt of
mode-matching the light field to the free-space emission pattern of the atomic
system of interest. Here we will describe the necessary steps of implementing
this mode-matching with the ultimate aim of reaching unit coupling efficiency.
We describe the use of deep parabolic mirrors as the central optical element of
a free-space coupling scheme, covering the preparation of suitable modes of the
field incident onto these mirrors as well as the location of an atom at the
mirror's focus. Furthermore, we establish a robust method for determining the
efficiency of the photon-atom coupling.Comment: Book chapter in compilation "Engineering the Atom-Photon Interaction"
published by Springer in 2015, edited by A. Predojevic and M. W. Mitchell,
ISBN 9783319192307, http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319192307. Only
change to version1: now with hyperlinks to arXiv eprints of other book
chapters mentioned in this on
Concise total syntheses of (â)-jorunnamycin A and (â)-jorumycin enabled by asymmetric catalysis
The bis-tetrahydroisoquinoline (bis-THIQ) natural products have been studied intensively over the past four decades for their exceptionally potent anticancer activity, in addition to strong gram-positive and -negative antibiotic character. Synthetic strategies toward these complex polycyclic compounds have relied heavily on electrophilic aromatic chemistry, such as the Pictet-Spengler reaction, that mimics their biosynthetic pathways. Herein we report an approach to two bis-THIQ natural products, jorunnamycin A and jorumycin, that instead harnesses the power of modern transition-metal catalysis for the three major bond-forming events and proceeds with high efficiency (15 and 16 steps, respectively). By breaking from biomimicry, this strategy allows for the preparation of a more diverse set of non-natural analogs
The Amadori rearrangement as glycoconjugation method: Synthesis of non-natural C-glycosyl type glycoconjugates
The Amadori rearrangement was investigated as a potential method for the conjugation of carbohydrate moieties to suitable amino components. Starting from selected aldoheptoses, which are readily available by means of the KilianiâFischer C-elongation reaction of the corresponding aldohexoses, glycoconjugates presenting D-gluco, D-manno and D-galacto as well as GlcNAc motifs have been synthesised. Following this strategy, non-natural C-glycosyl type glycoconjugates, which can be utilised as building blocks for the composition of larger molecular constructions, are available by a very short synthetic approach