We present an optical system designed to capture and observe a single neutral atom in an optical dipole trap, created by focussing a laser beam using a large numerical aperture N.A.=0.5 aspheric lens. We experimentally evaluate the performance of the optical system and show that it is diffraction limited over a broad spectral range (~ 200 nm) with a large transverse field (+/- 25 microns). The optical tweezer created at the focal point of the lens is able to trap single atoms of 87Rb and to detect them individually with a large collection efficiency. We measure the oscillation frequency of the atom in the dipole trap, and use this value as an independent determination of the waist of the optical tweezer. Finally, we produce with the same lens two dipole traps separated by 2.2 microns and show that the imaging system can resolve the two atoms.
We experimentally demonstrate the manipulation of optical diffraction, utilizing the atomic thermal motion in a hot vapor medium of electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT). By properly tuning the EIT parameters, the refraction induced by the atomic motion may completely counterbalance the paraxial free-space diffraction and by that eliminates the effect of diffraction for arbitrary images. By further manipulation, the diffraction can be doubled, biased asymmetrically to induced deflection, or even reversed. The latter allows an experimental implementation of an analogy to a negative-ind…
As a potential candidate for quantum computation and metrology, the nitrogen vacancy (NV)center in diamond presented both challenges and opportunities resulted from charge state conversion. By utilizing different lasers for the photon-induced charge state conversion, we achieved the sub-diffraction charge state manipulation. The charge state depletion (CSD) microscopy resolution was improved to 4.1 nm by optimizing the laser pulse sequences. Subsequently, the electron spin state dynamics of adjacent NV centers were selectively detected via the CSD. The experimental results demonstrated that th…
Comment on "Quantum Interferometric Optical Lithography: Exploiting Entanglement to Beat the Diffraction Limit" The effective absorption rates in quantum lithography are very low.
Quantum formalism of Fraunhofer diffraction is obtained. The state of the diffraction optical field is connected with the state of the incident optical field by a diffraction factor. Based on this formalism, correlations of the diffraction modes are calculated with different kinds of incident optical fields. Influence of correlations of the incident modes on the diffraction pattern is analyzed and an explanation of the ''ghost'' diffraction is proposed.
A few years ago, diffraction of atoms by double slits and gratings was achieved for the first time, and standard optical wave-theory provided an excellent description of the experiments. More recently, diffraction of weakly bound molecules and even clusters has been observed. Due to their size and to possible breakup processes optical wave-theory is no longer adequate and a more sophisticated approach is needed. Moreover, surface effects, which can modify the diffraction pattern of atoms and molecules, give rise to further complications. In this article a fully quantum mechanical approach to t…
We present one- and two-photon diffraction and interference experiments involving parametric down-converted photon pairs. By controlling the divergence of the pump beam in parametric down-conversion, the diffraction-interference pattern produced by an object changes from a quantum (perfectly correlated) case to a classical (uncorrelated) one. The observed diffraction and interference patterns are accurately reproduced by Fourier-optical analysis taking into account the quantum spatial correlation. We show that the relation between the spatial correlation and the object size plays a crucial rol…
We propose an optical read-out scheme allowing a demonstration of principle of information extraction below the diffraction limit. This technique, which could lead to improvement in data read-out density onto optical discs, is independent from the wavelength and numerical aperture of the reading apparatus, and involves a multi-pixel array detector. Furthermore, we show how to use non classical light in order to perform bit discrimination beyond the quantum noise limit.
We study the possibility of creating spatial patterns having subwavelength size by using the so-called dark states formed by the interaction between atoms and optical fields. These optical fields have a specified spatial distribution. Our experiments in Rb vapor display spatial patterns that are smaller than the length determined by the diffraction limit of the optical system used in the experiment. This approach may have applications to interference lithography and might be used in coherent Raman spectroscopy to create patterns with subwavelength spatial resolution.
We discuss codes for protecting logical qubits carried by optical fields from the effects of amplitude damping, i.e. linear photon loss. We demonstrate that the correctability condition for one-photon loss imposes limitations on the range of manipulations than can be implemented with passive linear-optics networks.
Classical, interferometric, optical lithography is diffraction limited to writing features of a size lambda/2 or greater, where lambda is the optical wavelength. Using nonclassical photon number states, entangled N at a time, we show that it is possible to write features of minimum size lambda/(2N) in an N-photon absorbing substrate. This result surpasses the usual classical diffraction limit by a factor of N. Since the number of features that can be etched on a two-dimensional surface scales inversely as the square of the feature size, this allows one to write a factor of N^2 more elements on…
Squeezed vacuum field can be amplified or deamplified when it is injected, as the signal beam, into a phase-sensitive optical parametric amplifier (OPA) inside an optical cavity. The spectral features of the reflected quantized signal field are controlled by the relative phase between the injected squeezed vacuum field and the pump field for the OPA. The experimental results demonstrate coherent phenomena of OPA in the quantum regime, and show phase-sensitive manipulations of quantum fluctuations for quantum information processing.
I propose a quantum imaging method that can beat the Rayleigh-Abbe diffraction limit and achieve de Broglie resolution without requiring a multiphoton absorber as the detector. Using the same non-classical states of light as those for quantum lithography, the proposed method requires only intensity measurements, followed by image post-processing, to produce the same complex image patterns as those in quantum lithography. The method is expected to be experimentally realizable using current technology.
We analyze the linear optical realization of number-sum Bell measurement and number-state manipulation by taking into account the realistic experimental situation, specifically imperfectness of single-photon detector. The present scheme for number-state manipulation is based on the number-sum Bell measurement, which is implemented with linear optical elements, i.e., beam splitters, phase shifters and zero-one-photon detectors. Squeezed vacuum states and coherent states are used as optical sources. The linear optical Bell state detector is formulated quantum theoretically with a probability ope…
The ability to coherently spectrally manipulate quantum information has the potential to improve qubit rates across quantum channels and find applications in optical quantum computing. In this paper we present experiments that use a multi-element solenoid combined with the three-level gradient echo memory scheme to perform precision spectral manipulation of optical pulses. These operations include bandwidth and frequency manipulation, spectral filtering of separate frequency components, as well as time-delayed interference between pulses with both the same, and different, frequencies. These op…
We report new techniques for driving high-fidelity stimulated Raman transitions in trapped ion qubits. An electro-optic modulator induces sidebands on an optical source, and interference between the sidebands allows coherent Rabi transitions to be efficiently driven between hyperfine ground states separated by 14.53 GHz in a single trapped 111Cd+ ion.
Atomic diffraction through double slits and transmission gratings is well described in terms of the associated de Broglie waves and classical wave optics. However, for weakly bound and relatively large systems, such as the He_2 dimer, this might no longer hold true due to the possibility of break-up processes and finite-size effects. We therefore study the diffraction of weakly bound two-particle systems. If the bar and slit widths of the grating are much larger than the diameter of the two-particle system we recover the usual optics results. For smaller widths, however, deviations therefrom o…
We analyze a fiber-optic component which could find multiple uses in novel information-processing systems utilizing squeezed states of light. Our approach is based on the phenomenon of photon-number squeezing of soliton noise after the soliton has propagated through a nonlinear optical fiber. Applications of this component in optical networks for quantum computation and quantum cryptography are discussed.
We study how to efficiently manipulate and store quantum information between optical fields and atomic ensembles. We show how various non-dissipative transfer schemes can be used to transfer and store quantum states such as squeezed vacuum states or entangled states into the long-lived ground state spins of atomic ensembles.
Photon echo schemes are excellent candidates for high efficiency coherent optical memory. They are capable of high-bandwidth multi-pulse storage, pulse resequencing and have been shown theoretically to be compatible with quantum information applications. One particular photon echo scheme is the gradient echo memory (GEM). In this system, an atomic frequency gradient is induced in the direction of light propagation leading to a Fourier decomposition of the optical spectrum along the length of the storage medium. This Fourier encoding allows precision spectral manipulation of the stored light. I…
We propose a novel scheme for asymmetric light diffraction of a weak probe field into a one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) lattice occupied with cold atoms. The atoms are driven into the double lambda-type configuration by a standing wave, two coupling laser fields and a probe. Our study suggests the proposed scheme is capable of forming an asymmetric diffraction as a result of inducing optical parity-time symmetry in both 1D and 2D lattices. Moreover it is demonstrated that the asymmetric pattern of diffraction can be dynamically manipulated by means of adjusting the relative phase…
We present a detailed study of the effects of imperfect atom-optical manipulation in Bragg-based light-pulse atom interferometers. Off-resonant higher-order diffraction leads to population loss, spurious interferometer paths, and diffraction phases. In a path-dependent formalism, we study numerically various effects and analyze the interference signal caused by an external phase or gravity. We compare first-order single and double Bragg diffraction in retroreflective setups. In double Bragg diffraction, phase imperfections lead to a beating due to three-path interference. Some effects of diffr…
We propose a nonlinear atom-optics experiment to create diffraction catastrophes threaded by quantized vortex skeletons in Bose-Einstein condensed matter waves. We show how atom-optical aberrations induced in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates evolve into specific caustic structures due to imperfect focusing. Vortex skeletons, whose cross-sections are staggered vortex lattices, are observed to nucleate inside the universal diffraction catastrophes. Our observations shed further light on the structure and dynamics of Bose-novae and suggest applications of matter wave diffraction catastrophes, in…
Light transmission or diffraction from different quantum phases of cold atoms in an optical lattice has recently come up as a useful tool to probe such ultra cold atomic systems. The periodic nature of the optical lattice potential closely resembles the structure of a diffraction grating in real space, but loaded with a strongly correlated quantum many body state which interacts with the incident electromagnetic wave, a feature that controls the nature of the light transmission or dispersion through such quantum medium. In this paper we show that as one varies the relative angle between the ca…
We consider a method of high-fidelity, spatially resolved position measurement of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice. We show that the atom-number distribution can be nondestructively determined at a spatial resolution beyond the diffraction limit by tracking the progressive evolution of the many-body wavefunction collapse into a Fock state. We predict that the Pauli exclusion principle accelerates the rate of wavefunction collapse of fermions in comparison with bosons. A possible application of our principle of surpassing the diffraction limit to other imaging systems is discussed.
We analyze a scheme to manipulate quantum states of neutral atoms at individual sites of optical lattices using focused laser beams. Spatial distributions of focused laser intensities induce position-dependent energy shifts of hyperfine states, which, combined with microwave radiation, allow selective manipulation of quantum states of individual target atoms. We show that various errors in the manipulation process are suppressed below $10^{-4} $ with properly chosen microwave pulse sequences and laser parameters. A similar idea is also applied to measure quantum states of single atoms in optic…
The use of retro-reflection in light-pulse atom interferometry under microgravity conditions naturally leads to a double-diffraction scheme. The two pairs of counterpropagating beams induce simultaneously transitions with opposite momentum transfer that, when acting on atoms initially at rest, give rise to symmetric interferometer configurations where the total momentum transfer is automatically doubled and where a number of noise sources and systematic effects cancel out. Here we extend earlier implementations for Raman transitions to the case of Bragg diffraction. In contrast with the single…
Quasicrystals are long-range ordered and yet non-periodic. This interplay results in a wealth of intriguing physical phenomena, such as the inheritance of topological properties from higher dimensions, and the presence of non-trivial structure on all scales. Here we report on the first experimental demonstration of an eightfold rotationally symmetric optical lattice, realising a two-dimensional quasicrystalline potential for ultracold atoms. Using matter-wave diffraction we observe the self-similarity of this quasicrystalline structure, in close analogy to the very first discovery of quasicrys…
Nonlinear optical processes are governed by the relative-phase relationships among the relevant electromagnetic fields in these processes. In this Letter, we describe the physics of arbitrary manipulation of nonlinear optical processes (AMNOP) by artificial control of relative phases. As a typical example, we show freely designable optical-frequency conversions to extreme spectral regions, mid-infrared and vacuum-ultraviolet, with near-unity quantum efficiencies. Furthermore, we show that such optical-frequency conversions can be realized by using a surprisingly simple technology where transpa…
Electro-optic time lenses are promising experimental components for photonic spectral-temporal processing of quantum information. We report a stable method to realize an electro-optic time lens, which relies on the amplification of an electronic response of a fast photodiode. The method does not require a repetitive clock and may be applied to aperiodic optical signals. We experimentally demonstrate the approach using single-photon pulses and directly verify its aperiodicity. The approach will enable construction of complex electro-optic temporal optical systems.
We show that a cooperative atom response in an optical lattice to resonant incident light can be employed for precise control and manipulation of light on a subwavelength scale. Specific collective excitation modes of the system that result from strong light-mediated dipole-dipole interactions can be addressed by tailoring the spatial phase-profile of the incident light. We demonstrate how the collective response can be used to produce optical excitations at well-isolated sites on the lattice.
Nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are promising elemental blocks for quantum optics [1, 2], spin-based quantum information processing [3, 4], and high-resolution sensing [5-13]. Yet, fully exploiting these capabilities of single NV centers requires strategies to accurately manipulate them. Here, we use optical tweezers as a tool to achieve deterministic trapping and 3D spatial manipulation of individual nano-diamonds hosting a single NV spin. Remarkably, we find the NV axis is nearly fixed inside the trap and can be controlled in-situ, by adjusting the polarization of the trapping light…
