19 research outputs found
A 750 mW, continuous-wave, solid-state laser source at 313 nm for cooling and manipulating trapped 9Be+ ions
We present a solid-state laser system that generates 750 mW of
continuous-wave single-frequency output at 313 nm. Sum-frequency generation
with fiber lasers at 1550 nm and 1051 nm produces up to 2 W at 626 nm. This
visible light is then converted to UV by cavity-enhanced second-harmonic
generation. The laser output can be tuned over a 495 GHz range, which includes
the 9Be+ laser cooling and repumping transitions. This is the first report of a
narrow-linewidth laser system with sufficient power to perform fault-tolerant
quantum-gate operations with trapped 9Be+ ions by use of stimulated Raman
transitions.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Rudolf Ladenburg and the first quantum interpretation of optical dispersion
In 1921, the experimental physicist Rudolf Ladenburg put forward the first quantum interpretation of optical dispersion. Theoretical physicists had tried to explain dispersion from the point of view of quantum theory ever since 1913, when Niels Bohr proposed his quantum model of atom. Yet, their theories proved unsuccessful. It was Ladenburg who gave a breakthrough step toward our quantum understanding of dispersion. In order to understand Ladenburg’s step, I analyze Ladenburg’s experimental work on dispersion prior to 1913, the reasons why the first theories of dispersion after 1913 were not satisfactory, and Ladenburg’s 1921 proposal. I argue that Ladenburg’s early experimental work on dispersion is indispensable to understand his 1921 paper. The specific kind of experiments he performed before 1913, the related interpretative problems, and the way he tried to solve them, led him reapproach the dispersion problem in 1921 in a way that was completely different from the way theoretical physicists had done it before