Atom-molecule dark states in a Bose-Einstein condensate

Intermittent decoherence blockade in a chiral ring environment

It has long been recognized that emission of radiation from atoms is not an intrinsic property of individual atoms themselves, but it is largely affected by the characteristics of the photonic environment and by the collective interaction among the atoms. A general belief is that preventing full decay and/or decoherence requires the existence of dark states, i.e., dressed light-atom states that do not decay despite the dissipative environment. Here, we show that, contrary to such a common wisdom, decoherence suppression can be intermittently achieved on a limited time scale, without the need for any dark state, when the atom is coupled to a chiral ring environment, leading to a highly non-exponential staircase decay. This effect, that we refer to as intermittent decoherence blockade, arises from periodic destructive interference between light emitted in the present and light emitted in the past, i.e., from delayed coherent quantum feedback.

Observation of Interference between Resonant and Detuned stirap in the Adiabatic Creation of ^{23}Na^{40}K Molecules

Stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (stirap) allows efficiently transferring the populations between two discrete quantum states and has been used to prepare molecules in their rovibrational ground state. In realistic molecules, a well-resolved intermediate state is usually selected to implement the resonant stirap. Because of the complex molecular level structures, the detuned stirap always coexists with the resonant stirap and may cause unexpected interference phenomenon. However, it is generally accepted that the detuned stirap can be neglected if compared with the resonant stirap. Here we report on the first observation of interference between the resonant and detuned stirap in the adiabatic creation of ^{23}Na^{40}K ground-state molecules. The interference is identified by observing that the number of Feshbach molecules after a round-trip stirap oscillates as a function of the hold time, with a visibility of about 90%. This occurs even if the intermediate excited states are well resolved, and the single-photon detuning of the detuned stirap is about 1 order of magnitude larger than the linewidth of the excited state and the Rabi frequencies of the stirap lasers. Moreover, the observed interference indicates that if more than one hyperfine level of the ground state is populated, the stirap prepares a coherent superposition state among them, but not an incoherent mixed state. Further, the purity of the hyperfine levels of the created ground state can be quantitatively determined by the visibility of the oscillation.

Nonlinear Stimulated Raman Exact Passage by Resonance-Locked Inverse Engineering

We derive an exact and robust stimulated Raman process for nonlinear quantum systems driven by pulsed external fields. The external fields are designed with closed-form expressions from the inverse engineering of a given efficient and stable dynamics. This technique allows one to induce a controlled population inversion which surpasses the usual nonlinear stimulated Raman adiabatic passage efficiency.

Localized spatially nonlinear matter waves in atomic-molecular Bose-Einstein condensates with space-modulated nonlinearity

The intrinsic nonlinearity is the most remarkable characteristic of the Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) systems. Many studies have been done on atomic BECs with time- and space- modulated nonlinearities, while there is few work considering the atomic-molecular BECs with space-modulated nonlinearities. Here, we obtain two kinds of Jacobi elliptic solutions and a family of rational solutions of the atomic-molecular BECs with trapping potential and space-modulated nonlinearity and consider the effect of three-body interaction on the localized matter wave solutions. The topological properties of the localized nonlinear matter wave for no coupling are analysed: the parity of nonlinear matter wave functions depends only on the principal quantum number n, and the numbers of the density packets for each quantum state depend on both the principal quantum number n and the secondary quantum number l. When the coupling is not zero, the localized nonlinear matter waves given by the rational function, their topological properties are independent of the principal quantum number n, only depend on the secondary quantum number l. The Raman detuning and the chemical potential can change the number and the shape of the density packets. The stability of the Jacobi elliptic solutions depends on the principal quantum number n, while the stability of the rational solutions depends on the chemical potential and Raman detuning.

Control of laser-induced frequency shift in ultracold cesium molecules by an external magnetic field

We investigate an effective control of the laser-induced frequency shift of ultracold cesium molecules formed by photoassociation (PA) in a magnetically levitated crossed dipole trap via an external magnetic field. A series of molecular PA spectra have been measured with increasing the PA laser intensity at different bias fields. We find that the slope of laser-induced frequency shift is strongly dependent on the external magnetic field: the slope can be increased up to a maximum of ∼6 times compared with a slope without an external magnetic field. A qualitatively theoretical explanation has been offered by considering the external magnetic field that can be used to manipulate the interaction between ultracold atoms.

Anomalous behavior of dark states in quantum gases of (6)Li

We create atom-molecule dark states in a degenerate Fermi gas of ^{6}Li in both weakly and strongly interacting regimes using two-photon Raman scattering to couple fermion pairs to bound molecular states in the ground singlet and triplet potential. Near the unitarity point in the BEC-BCS crossover regime, the atom number revival height associated with the dark state abruptly and unexpectedly decreases and remains low for magnetic fields below the Feshbach resonance center at 832.2 G. With a weakly interacting Fermi gas at 0 G, we perform precision dark-state spectroscopy of the least-bound vibrational levels of the lowest singlet and triplet potentials. From these spectra, we obtain binding energies of the v^{''}=9, N^{''}=0 level of the a(1^{3}Σ_{u}^{+}) potential and the v^{''}=38, N^{''}=0 level of the X(1^{1}Σ_{g}^{+}) potential with absolute uncertainty as low as 20 kHz. For the triplet potential, we resolve the molecular hyperfine structure.

Rabi oscillations between atomic and molecular condensates driven with coherent one-color photoassociation

We demonstrate coherent one-color photoassociation of a Bose-Einstein condensate, which results in Rabi oscillations between atomic and molecular condensates. We attain atom-molecule Rabi frequencies that are comparable to decoherence rates by driving photoassociation of atoms in an ^{88}Sr condensate to a weakly bound level of the metastable 1S0+3P1 molecular potential, which has a long lifetime and a large Franck-Condon overlap integral with the ground scattering state. Transient shifts and broadenings of the excitation spectrum are clearly seen at short times, and they create an asymmetric excitation profile that only displays Rabi oscillations for blue detuning from resonance.

Creation of ultracold Sr(2) molecules in the electronic ground state

We report on the creation of ultracold (84)Sr(2) molecules in the electronic ground state. The molecules are formed from atom pairs on sites of an optical lattice using stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP). We achieve a transfer efficiency of 30% and obtain 4×10(4) molecules with full control over the external and internal quantum state. STIRAP is performed near the narrow (1)S(0)-(3)P(1) intercombination transition, using a vibrational level of the 1(0(u)(+)) potential as an intermediate state. In preparation of our molecule association scheme, we have determined the binding energies of the last vibrational levels of the 1(0(u)(+)), 1(1(u)) excited-state and the X (1)Σ(g)(+) ground-state potentials. Our work overcomes the previous limitation of STIRAP schemes to systems with magnetic Feshbach resonances, thereby establishing a route that is applicable to many systems beyond alkali-metal dimers.

Fano profiles in two-photon photoassociation spectra

In this article we derive the lineshapes observed in two-photon photoassociation spectrocopy of molecules using an effective Hamiltonian adapted from previous work in atomic physics. The lineshape is decomposed in terms of sums and products of Breit-Wigner and Fano profiles, which we associate with physical absorption and emission processes, and to quantum interferences between transition amplitudes. We emphasize the specific features which do not exist in the atomic case, linked to the dissociation width of the photoassociated molecules in the electronic ground state.

The double dark resonance in a cold gas of Cs atoms and molecules

We theoretically investigated the properties of the effective four-level stimulated Raman adiabatic passage scheme in a cold gas of Cs atoms and molecules, where exists the tunnelling coupling between two excited molecular states due to the 0(g)- (6S,6P(3/2)) double well structure. The double dark resonance is predicted in the absorption spectrum when the tunnelling coupling strength is large enough. The double dark resonance not only reveals the formation of the ultra-cold molecules, but also provides further evidence for the tunnelling as one effective coupling mechanism between the two excited molecular states. The effect of the various experimental conditions on this phenomena has been discussed.

Ultracold triplet molecules in the rovibrational ground state

We report here on the production of an ultracold gas of tightly bound Rb2 triplet molecules in the rovibrational ground state, close to quantum degeneracy. This is achieved by optically transferring weakly bound Rb2 molecules to the absolute lowest level of the ground triplet potential with a transfer efficiency of about 90%. The transfer takes place in a 3D optical lattice which traps a sizeable fraction of the tightly bound molecules with a lifetime exceeding 200 ms.

Quantum noise in the collective abstraction reaction A + B2-->AB + B

We demonstrate theoretically that the collective abstraction reaction A + B2-->AB + B can be realized efficiently with degenerate bosonic or fermionic matter waves. We show that this is dominated by quantum fluctuations, which are critical in triggering its initial stages with the appearance of macroscopic nonclassical correlations of the atomic and molecular fields as a result. This study opens up a promising new regime of quantum-degenerate matter-wave chemistry.

Laser-catalyzed production of ultracold molecules: the 6Li+6Li7Li-->homega6Li-6Li+7Li reaction

We show that by using laser catalysis, we can employ translationally cold (Tr approximately 1.75 K) collisions to produce ultracold (0.01 mK<Tp<1 mK) (homonuclear) molecules. We illustrate this approach by studying the laser catalysis of the 6Li+6Li7Li-->homega(6Li6Li7Li)*(1(4)A'')-->homega6Li6Li+7Li reaction in the collinear approximation. Ultracold 6Li6Li product molecules are shown to be produced at an extraordinary yield of up to 99.97%, using moderate laser intensities of I=100 kW/cm(2)-10 MW/cm2.

Atom-molecule dark state: the exact quantum solution

Developments in ultracold atomic physics have enabled the generation of an atom-molecule dark state in dilute quantum gases. Previous studies of this dark state were all carried out in the mean-field regime. Here we present an exact quantum many-body wave function for the atom-molecule dark state for an ideal system (in the absence of losses and two-body collisions). Using this exact quantum wave function, we are able to validate the mean-field solution to be a good approximation when the particle number N is large. For small N, unique quantum features will become important.

Two-body transients in coupled atomic-molecular bose-einstein condensates

We discuss the dynamics of an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate when pairs of atoms are converted into molecules by single-color photoassociation. Three main regimes are found, and it is shown that they can be understood on the basis of time-dependent two-body theory. In particular, the so-called rogue dissociation regime [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 090403 (2002)10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.090403], which has a density-dependent limit on the photoassociation rate, is identified with a transient regime of the two-atom dynamics exhibiting universal properties. Finally, we illustrate how these regimes could be explored by photoassociating condensates of alkaline-earth atoms.

Macroscopic atom-molecule dark state and its collective excitations in fermionic systems

We show that a robust macroscopic atom-molecule dark state can exist in fermionic systems, which represents a coherent superposition between the ground molecular Bose-Einstein condensates and the atomic BCS paired state. We take advantage of the tunability offered by external laser fields, and explore this superposition for demonstrating coherent oscillations between ground molecules and atom pairs. We interpret the oscillation frequencies in terms of the collective excitations of the dark state.

Integrability, stability, and adiabaticity in nonlinear stimulated Raman adiabatic passage

We study the dynamics of a two-color photoassociation of atoms into diatomic molecules via nonlinear stimulated Raman adiabatic passage process. The system has a famous counterpart in (linear) quantum mechanics, and has been discussed recently in the context of generalizing the quantum adiabatic theorem to nonlinear systems. Here we use another approach to study adiabaticity and stability in the system: we apply methods of classical Hamiltonian dynamics. We find nonlinear dynamical instabilities, cases of complete integrability, and improved conditions of adiabaticity.

Coherent atom-trimer conversion in a repulsive Bose-Einstein condensate

We show that the use of a generalized atom-molecule dark state permits the enhanced coherent creation of triatomic molecules in a repulsive atomic Bose-Einstein condensate, with further enhancement being possible in the case of heteronuclear trimers via the constructive interference between two chemical reaction channels.

Confinement effects on the stimulated dissociation of molecular Bose-Einstein condensates

We show that a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate in a trap is stabilized against stimulated dissociation if the trap size is smaller than the resonance healing length (Planck's 2/2mgsqrt[n]);1/2. The condensate shape determines the critical atom-molecule coupling frequency. We discuss an experiment for triggering dissociation by a sudden change of coupling or trap parameters. This effect demonstrates one of the unique collective features of "superchemistry" in that the yield of a chemical reaction depends critically on the size and shape of the reaction vessel.

Adiabatic condition for nonlinear systems

The adiabatic approximation is an important concept in quantum mechanics. In linear systems, the adiabatic condition is derived with the help of the instantaneous eigenvalues and eigenstates of the Hamiltonian, a procedure that breaks down in the presence of nonlinearity. Using an explicit example relevant to photoassociation of atoms into diatomic molecules, we demonstrate that the proper way to derive the adiabatic condition for nonlinear mean-field (or classical) systems is through a linearization procedure, using which an analytic adiabatic condition is obtained for the nonlinear model under study.

Coherent optical transfer of Feshbach molecules to a lower vibrational state

Using the technique of stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) we have coherently transferred ultracold (87)Rb(2) Feshbach molecules into a more deeply bound vibrational quantum level. Our measurements indicate a high transfer efficiency of up to 87%. Because the molecules are held in an optical lattice with not more than a single molecule per lattice site, inelastic collisions between the molecules are suppressed and we observe long molecular lifetimes of about 1 s. Using STIRAP we have created quantum superpositions of the two molecular states and tested their coherence interferometrically. These results represent an important step towards Bose-Einstein condensation of molecules in the vibrational ground state.

Measurement of the electronic transition dipole moment by Autler-Townes splitting: Comparison of three- and four-level excitation schemes for the Na2AΣu+1−XΣg+1 system

We present a fundamentally new approach for measuring the transition dipole moment of molecular transitions, which combines the benefits of quantum interference effects, such as the Autler-Townes splitting, with the familiar R-centroid approximation. This method is superior to other experimental methods for determining the absolute value of the R-dependent electronic transition dipole moment function mu(e)(R), since it requires only an accurate measurement of the coupling laser electric field amplitude and the determination of the Rabi frequency from an Autler-Townes split fluorescence spectral line. We illustrate this method by measuring the transition dipole moment matrix element for the Na2 A 1Sigma(u)+ (v' = 25, J' = 20e)-X 1Sigma(g)+ (v" = 38, J" = 21e) rovibronic transition and compare our experimental results with our ab initio calculations. We have compared the three-level (cascade) and four-level (extended Lambda) excitation schemes and found that the latter is preferable in this case for two reasons. First, this excitation scheme takes advantage of the fact that the coupling field lower level is outside the thermal population range. As a result vibrational levels with larger wave function amplitudes at the outer turning point of vibration lead to larger transition dipole moment matrix elements and Rabi frequencies than those accessible from the equilibrium internuclear distance of the thermal population distribution. Second, the coupling laser can be "tuned" to different rovibronic transitions in order to determine the internuclear distance dependence of the electronic transition dipole moment function in the region of the R-centroid of each coupling laser transition. Thus the internuclear distance dependence of the transition moment function mu(e)(R) can be determined at several very different values of the R centroid. The measured transition dipole moment matrix element for the Na2 A 1Sigma(u)+ (v' = 25, J' = 20e)-X 1Sigma(g)+ (v" = 38, J" = 21e) transition is 5.5+/-0.2 D compared to our ab initio value of 5.9 D. By using the R-centroid approximation for this transition the corresponding experimental electronic transition dipole moment is 9.72 D at Rc = 4.81 A, in good agreement with our ab initio value of 10.55 D.

Accurate determination of the scattering length of metastable helium atoms using dark resonances between atoms and exotic molecules

We present a new measurement of the s-wave scattering length a of spin-polarized helium atoms in the 2(3)S1 metastable state. Using two-photon photoassociation spectroscopy and dark resonances, we measure the energy E(nu)=14= -91.35+/- 0.06 MHz of the least-bound state nu = 14 in the interaction potential of the two atoms. We deduce a value of a=7.512+/-0.005 nm, which is at least 100 times more precise than the best previous determinations and is in disagreement with some of them. This experiment also demonstrates the possibility to create exotic molecules binding two metastable atoms with a lifetime of the order of 1 micros.