Optical Atomic Coherence at the 1-Second Time Scale

Boyd, Martin M.; Zelevinsky, Tanya; Ludlow, Andrew D.; Foreman, Seth M.; Blatt, Sebastian; Ido, T.; Ye, Jun

doi:10.1126/science.1133732

Cited by 158 publications

(149 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…The 87 Sr 1 S 0 − 3 P 0 clock transition is at ν ¼ 430 THz, and the transition linewidth is Δ A ¼ 1 mHz, yielding T max ¼ 160 s [48]. Current work is experimenting with the loading of 10 4 -10 5 87 Sr atoms from a degenerate Fermi gas into a three-dimensional optical lattice [49] to achieve recordlong coherence times.…”

Section: Expected Sensitivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Gravitational wave detection with optical lattice atomic clocks

et al. 2016

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We propose a space-based gravitational wave (GW) detector consisting of two spatially separated, dragfree satellites sharing ultrastable optical laser light over a single baseline. Each satellite contains an optical lattice atomic clock, which serves as a sensitive, narrowband detector of the local frequency of the shared laser light. A synchronized two-clock comparison between the satellites will be sensitive to the effective Doppler shifts induced by incident GWs at a level competitive with other proposed space-based GW detectors, while providing complementary features. The detected signal is a differential frequency shift of the shared laser light due to the relative velocity of the satellites, and the detection window can be tuned through the control sequence applied to the atoms' internal states. This scheme enables the detection of GWs from continuous, spectrally narrow sources, such as compact binary inspirals, with frequencies ranging from ∼3 mHz-10 Hz without loss of sensitivity, thereby bridging the detection gap between spacebased and terrestrial optical interferometric GW detectors. Our proposed GW detector employs just two satellites, is compatible with integration with an optical interferometric detector, and requires only realistic improvements to existing ground-based clock and laser technologies.

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Section: Expected Sensitivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Gravitational wave detection with optical lattice atomic clocks

et al. 2016

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“…In the case of 87 Sr, whose nucleus has spin I = 9/2, we will choose two sublevels in the 10-dimensional manifold to encode a qubit. Exquisite optical control of the nuclear spin of 87 Sr has recently been demonstrated by Boyd et al [10].…”

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confidence: 99%

“…To good approximation, the 3 P 0 state has total electron angular momentum J = 0, and under this condition, there is no interaction between electrons and nuclear spin, as in the ground state, | 1 S 0 . However, the clock transition is J = 0 → J = 0, and laser excitation is only allowed because in the excited state, the hyperfine interaction leads to a small admixture of the higher-lying P states [10,14]. The nuclear spin projection m I is thus not an exact quantum number for the magnetic sublevels in | 3 P 0 ; a very small admixture of electronic angular momentum renders m F a good quantum number.…”

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confidence: 99%

Sideband Cooling while Preserving Coherences in the Nuclear Spin State in Group-II-like Atoms

Reichenbach

Deutsch

2007

Phys. Rev. Lett.

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We propose a method for laser cooling group-II-like atoms without changing the quantum state of their nuclear spins, thus preserving coherences that are usually destroyed by optical pumping in the cooling process. As group-II-like atoms have a 1 S0 closed-shell ground state, nuclear spin and electronic angular momentum are decoupled, allowing for their independent manipulation. The hyperfine interaction that couples these degrees of freedom in excited states can be suppressed through the application of external magnetic fields. Our protocol employs resolved-sideband cooling on the forbidden clock transition, 1 S0 → 3 P0, with quenching via coupling to the rapidly decaying 1 P1 state, deep in the Paschen-Back regime. This makes it possible to laser-cool neutral atomic qubits without destroying the quantum information stored in their nuclear spins as shown in two examples, 171 Yb and 87 Sr.The ability to coherently control atoms has allowed for major advances in precision measurement for tests of fundamental physics [1] and new proposed applications such as quantum simulators and universal quantum computers [2]. Though traditionally alkali-metal (group-I) atoms are used in many of these applications given our ability to laser cool and trap them with relative ease, alkalineearth-metal (group-II) atoms are also being considered given long-lived metastable states, accessible lasers for cooling and trapping, and a rich (but tractable) internal structure. One distinguishing feature of group-II vs. group-I elements is that the ground state is a closed-shell 1 S 0 with zero electron angular momentum, and thus no hyperfine coupling to the nuclear spin. This will allow us to independently manipulate nuclear and electronic degrees of freedom in ways that are not easily accomplished with group-I atoms.From the perspective of storing and manipulating quantum information, nuclear spins in atoms are attractive given their long coherence times and the mature techniques of NMR [3]. Recently, we have studied a protocol in which nuclear spins can mediate quantum logic solely through quantum statistics via an "exchange blockade" [4]. This allows us to isolate nuclear spins from noisy perturbing forces while simultaneously providing a mechanism by which strong qubit-qubit interaction can be implemented via cold collisions. As is typical in atomic quantum logic protocols, heating of atomic motion degrades performance. In atoms with group-Ilike electronic structures, laser cooling cannot be used to re-initialize atomic vibration in the course of quantum evolution because this is accompanied by optical pumping that erases the qubit stored in the internal degrees of freedom. One must therefore resort to sympathetic cooling with another species [5]. In this Letter we propose and analyze a new protocol in which one can continuously refrigerate atomic motion while simultaneously maintaining quantum coherence stored in nuclear spins. Our proposal is based on resolved-sideband laser cooling [6] of group-II-like atoms, tightly trapped in the L...

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“…The spinfluctuator model discussed here for NV centers can be generalized to other AMO systems (see Refs. [16,17] for the recent progress).…”

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confidence: 99%

Coherence of an Optically Illuminated Single Nuclear Spin Qubit

et al. 2008

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We investigate the coherence properties of individual nuclear spin quantum bits in diamond [Dutt et al., Science, 316, 1312] when a proximal electronic spin associated with a nitrogenvacancy (NV) center is being interrogated by optical radiation. The resulting nuclear spin dynamics are governed by time-dependent hyperfine interaction associated with rapid electronic transitions, which can be described by a spin-fluctuator model. We show that due to a process analogous to motional averaging in nuclear magnetic resonance, the nuclear spin coherence can be preserved after a large number of optical excitation cycles. Our theoretical analysis is in good agreement with experimental results. It indicates a novel approach that could potentially isolate the nuclear spin system completely from the electronic environment.Nuclear spins are of fundamental importance for storage and processing of quantum information. Their excellent coherence properties make them a superior qubit candidate even in room temperature solids. Unfortunately, their weak coupling to the environment also makes it difficult to isolate and manipulate individual nuclei. Recently, coherent preparation, manipulation and readout of individual 13 C nuclear spins in the diamond lattice were demonstrated [1,2]. These experiments make use of optical polarization and manipulation of the electronic spin associated with a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color center in the diamond lattice [3,4,5,6]. This enables reliable control of the nuclear spin qubit via hyperfine interactions with the electronic spin.In order to be useful for applications in scalable quantum information processing [3], such as quantum communication [7] and quantum computation [8], the quantum coherence of the nuclear spins must be maintained even when the electronic state is undergoing fast transitions associated with optical measurement and with entanglement generation between electronic spins. In this Letter, we investigate coherence properties of such an optically illuminated nuclear spin-electron spin system. We show that these properties are well-described by a spin-fluctuator model [9,10,11,12], involving a single nuclear spin (system) coupled by the hyperfine interaction to an electron [13] (fluctuator) that undergoes rapid optical transitions and mediates the coupling between the nuclear spin and the environment. We generalize the spin-fluctuator model to a vector description, necessary for single NV centers in diamond [1], and make direct comparisons with experiments. Most importantly we demonstrate that the decoherence of the nuclear spin due to the rapidly fluctuating electron is greatly suppressed via a mechanism analogous to motional narrowing in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) [14,15], allowing the nuclear spin coherence to be preserved even after hundreds of optical excitation cycles. We further show that by proper tuning of experimental parameters it may be possible to completely decouple the nuclear spin system from the electronic environment. The spinfluctuator model discussed here ...

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Optical Atomic Coherence at the 1-Second Time Scale

Cited by 158 publications

References 38 publications

Gravitational wave detection with optical lattice atomic clocks

Gravitational wave detection with optical lattice atomic clocks

Sideband Cooling while Preserving Coherences in the Nuclear Spin State in Group-II-like Atoms

Coherence of an Optically Illuminated Single Nuclear Spin Qubit

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