Studies of the 1^{1}S0_{0}--3^3P0_0 transition in atomic ytterbium for optical clocks and qubit arrays

We report an observation of the weak $6^{1}$S$_{0}$-$6^3$P$_0$ transition in $^{171,173}$Yb as an important step to establish Yb as a primary candidate for future optical frequency standards, and to open up a new approach for qubits using the $^{1}$S$_{0}$ and $^3$P$_0$ states of Yb atoms in an optical lattice.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Ultrastable Optical Clock with Neutral Atoms in an Engineered Light Shift Trap

An ultrastable optical clock based on neutral atoms trapped in an optical lattice is proposed. Complete control over the light shift is achieved by employing the $5s^2 {}^1S_0 \to 5s5p {}^3P_0$ transition of ${}^{87}{\rm Sr}$ atoms as a "clock transition". Calculations of ac multipole polarizabilities and dipole hyperpolarizabilities for the clock transition indicate that the contribution of the higher-order light shifts can be reduced to less than 1 mHz, allowing for a projected accuracy of better than $10^{-17}$.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Distant metastasis facilitated by BCG: spread of tumour cells injected in the BCG-primed site.

Tumour metastasis in BCG-pretreated mice was studied using a methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma in C3H/He mice. When tumour cells were injected into the BCG-primed site, distant metastasis occurred in the lungs and the popliteal lymph node, through this tumour did not metastasize in normal mice. Such metastases were increased in proportion to the number of tumour cells injected into the BCG-primed site, and developed soon after tumour challenge. Concomitant immunity developed well in the mice bearing such metastases, but did not inhibit metastatic growth. Experiments using 125I-labelled SRBC or tumour cells revealed that such cells egressed rapidly from the BCG-primed site. When the tumour was inoculated into the contralateral foot to the BCG-primed site, the incidence and the number of metastases was reduced. Furthermore, BCG infection induced an increase of platelet count. I.v. injection of this tumour induced marked thrombocytopenia in normal mice. Administration of pentoxifylline, a methylxanthine derivative before tumour challenge reduced such metastases. These findings suggest that the changes in peripheral blood, such as increased platelet count and increased release of tumour cells from the injection site, facilitated distant metastasis in BCG-pretreated mice

Possibility of an ultra-precise optical clock using the 61S0→63P0o6 ^1S_0 \to 6 ^3P^o_0 transition in 171,173^{171, 173}Yb atoms held in an optical lattice

We report calculations designed to assess the ultimate precision of an atomic clock based on the 578 nm $6 ^1S_0 --> 6 ^3P^o_0$ transition in Yb atoms confined in an optical lattice trap. We find that this transition has a natural linewidth less than 10 mHz in the odd Yb isotopes, caused by hyperfine coupling. The shift in this transition due to the trapping light acting through the lowest order AC polarizability is found to become zero at the magic trap wavelength of about 752 nm. The effects of Rayleigh scattering, higher-order polarizabilities, vector polarizability, and hyperfine induced electronic magnetic moments can all be held below a mHz (about a part in 10^{18}), except in the case of the hyperpolarizability larger shifts due to nearly resonant terms cannot be ruled out without an accurate measurement of the magic wavelength.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Recovery of Electron/Proton Radiation-Induced Defects in n+p AlInGaP Solar Cell by Minority-Carrier Injection Annealing

A high efficient In0.48Ga0.52P/In0.01Ga0.99As/Ge triple junction solar cell has been developed for application in space and terrestrial concentrator PV system [1-3]. Recently, a high conversion efficiency of 31.5% (AM1.5G) has been obtained in InGaP/(In)GaAs/Ge triple junction solar cell, and as a new top cell material of triple junction cells, (Al)InGaP [1] has been proposed to improve the open-circuit voltage (Voc) because it shows a higher Voc of 1.5V while maintaining the same short-circuit current (ISC) as a conventional InGaP top cell under AM1.5G conditions as seen in figure 1 (a). Moreover, the spectral response of 1.96eV AlInGaP cell with a thickness of 2.5..m shows a higher response in the long wavelength region, compared with that of 1.87eV InGaP cell with 0.6..m thickness, as shown in figure 1 (b). Its development will realize next generation multijunction (MJ) solar cells such as a lattice mismatched AlInGaP/InGaAs/Ge 3-junction and lattice matched AlInGaP/GaAs/InGaAsN/Ge 4-junction solar cells. Figure 2 shows the super high-efficiency MJ solar cell structures and wide band spectral response by MJ solar cells under AM1.5G conditions. For realizing high efficient MJ space solar cells, the higher radiation-resistance under the electron or proton irradiation is required. The irradiation studies for a conventional top cell InGaP have been widely done [4-6], but little irradiation work has been performed on AlInGaP solar cells. Recently, we made the first reports of 1 MeV electron or 30 keV proton irradiation effects on AlInGaP solar cells, and evaluated the defects generated by the irradiation [7,8]. The present study describes the recovery of 1 MeV electron / 30 keV proton irradiation-induced defects in n+p- AlInGaP solar cells by minority-carrier injection enhanced annealing or isochronal annealing. The origins of irradiation-induced defects observed by deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements are discussed

A high stability semiconductor laser system for a 88^{88}Sr-based optical lattice clock

We describe a frequency stabilized diode laser at 698 nm used for high resolution spectroscopy of the 1S0-3P0 strontium clock transition. For the laser stabilization we use state-of-the-art symmetrically suspended optical cavities optimized for very low thermal noise at room temperature. Two-stage frequency stabilization to high finesse optical cavities results in measured laser frequency noise about a factor of three above the cavity thermal noise between 2 Hz and 11 Hz. With this system, we demonstrate high resolution remote spectroscopy on the 88Sr clock transition by transferring the laser output over a phase-noise-compensated 200 m-long fiber link between two separated laboratories. Our dedicated fiber link ensures a transfer of the optical carrier with frequency stability of 7 \cdot 10^{-18} after 100 s integration time, which could enable the observation of the strontium clock transition with an atomic Q of 10^{14}. Furthermore, with an eye towards the development of transportable optical clocks, we investigate how the complete laser system (laser+optics+cavity) can be influenced by environmental disturbances in terms of both short- and long-term frequency stability.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Appl. Phys.

Characterization of the absolute frequency stability of an individual reference cavity

We demonstrated for the first time the characterization of absolute frequency stability of three reference cavities by cross beating three laser beams which are independently locked to these reference cavities. This method shows the individual feature of each reference cavity, while conventional beatnote measurement between two cavities can only provide an upper bound. This method allows for numerous applications such as optimizing the performance of the reference cavity for optical clockwork.Comment: 3 figures, 9 page