67 research outputs found
Observation of Large Atomic-Recoil Induced Asymmetries in Cold Atom Spectroscopy
The atomic recoil effect leads to large (25 %) asymmetries in simple
spectroscopic investigations of Ca atoms that have been laser-cooled to 10
microkelvin. Starting with spectra from the more familiar Doppler-broadened
domain, we show how the fundamental asymmetry between absorption and stimulated
emission of light manifests itself when shorter spectroscopic pulses lead to
the Fourier transform regime. These effects occur on frequency scales much
larger than the size of the recoil shift itself, and have not been observed
before in saturation spectroscopy. These results are relevant to
state-of-the-art optical atomic clocks based on freely expanding neutral atoms.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
The optical calcium frequency standards of PTB and NIST
We describe the current status of the Ca optical frequency standards with
laser-cooled neutral atoms realized in two different laboratories for the
purpose of developing a possible future optical atomic clock.
Frequency measurements performed at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
(PTB) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) make the
frequency of the clock transition of 40Ca one of the best known optical
frequencies (relative uncertainty 1.2e-14) and the measurements of this
frequency in both laboratories agree to well within their respective
uncertainties.
Prospects for improvement by orders of magnitude in the relative uncertainty
of the standard look feasible.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, to appear in Comptes Rendus Physiqu
Phase-Locked, Low-Noise, Frequency Agile Titanium: Sapphire Lasers for Simultaneous Atom Interferometers
We demonstrate phase lock of two >1.6W Titanium:sapphire lasers with a phase
noise of -138dBc/Hz at 1MHz from the carrier, using an intra-cavity
electro-optic phase modulator. The residual phase variance is 2.5 10^(-8)rad^2
integrated from 1Hz to 10kHz. Instantaneous offset frequency steps of up to
4MHz are achieved within 200ns. Simultaneous atom interferometers can make full
use of this ultra-low phase noise in differential measurements by suppressing
common influences from vibration of optics.Comment: Additional phase-noise data and references; to appear in Optics
Letters. 3 pages, 4 figure
Study of coupled states for the (4s^{2})^{1}S + (4s4p)^{3}P asymptote of Ca_{2}
The coupled states A^{1}\Sigma_{u}^{+} (^{1}D +}1}S), c^{3}\Pi_{u} (^{3}P +
^{1}S) and a^{3}\Sigma_{u}^{+} (^{3}P +}1}S) of the calcium dimer are
investigated in a laser induced fluorescence experiment combined with
high-resolution Fourier-transform spectroscopy. A global deperturbation
analysis of the observed levels, considering a model, which is complete within
the subspace of relevant neighboring states, is performed using the Fourier
Grid Hamiltonian method. We determine the potential energy curve of the
A^{1}\Sigma_{u}^{+} and c^{3}\Pi_{u} states and the strengths of the couplings
between them. The c^{3}\Pi_{u} and \as states are of particular importance for
the description of collisional processes between calcium atoms in the ground
state ^{1}S_{0} and excited state ^{3}P_{1} applied in studies for establishing
an optical frequency standard with Ca.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figure
The theory of quantum levitators
We develop a unified theory for clocks and gravimeters using the
interferences of multiple atomic waves put in levitation by traveling light
pulses. Inspired by optical methods, we exhibit a propagation invariant, which
enables to derive analytically the wave function of the sample scattering on
the light pulse sequence. A complete characterization of the device sensitivity
with respect to frequency or to acceleration measurements is obtained. These
results agree with previous numerical simulations and confirm the conjecture of
sensitivity improvement through multiple atomic wave interferences. A realistic
experimental implementation for such clock architecture is discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 6 Figures. Minor typos corrected. Final versio
Mesoscopic atomic entanglement for precision measurements beyond the standard quantum limit
Squeezing of quantum fluctuations by means of entanglement is a well
recognized goal in the field of quantum information science and precision
measurements. In particular, squeezing the fluctuations via entanglement
between two-level atoms can improve the precision of sensing, clocks,
metrology, and spectroscopy. Here, we demonstrate 3.4 dB of metrologically
relevant squeezing and entanglement for ~ 10^5 cold cesium atoms via a quantum
nondemolition (QND) measurement on the atom clock levels. We show that there is
an optimal degree of decoherence induced by the quantum measurement which
maximizes the generated entanglement. A two-color QND scheme used in this paper
is shown to have a number of advantages for entanglement generation as compared
to a single color QND measurement.Comment: 6 pages+suppl, PNAS forma
Controlling dipole-dipole frequency shifts in a lattice-based optical atomic clock
Motivated by the ideas of using cold alkaline earth atoms trapped in an
optical lattice for realization of optical atomic clocks, we investigate
theoretically the perturbative effects of atom-atom interactions on a clock
transition frequency. These interactions are mediated by the dipole fields
associated with the optically excited atoms. We predict resonance-like features
in the frequency shifts when constructive interference among atomic dipoles
occur. We theoretically demonstrate that by fine-tuning the coherent
dipole-dipole couplings in appropriately designed lattice geometries, the
undesirable frequency shifts can be greatly suppressed.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
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