Light-shift tomography in an optical-dipole trap for neutral atoms

Light-shift tomography in an optical-dipole trap for neutral atoms

Theory of an optical dipole trap for cold atoms

The theory of an atom dipole trap composed of a focused, far red-detuned, trapping laser beam, and a pair of red-detuned, counterpropagating, cooling beams is developed for the simplest realistic multilevel dipole interaction scheme based on a model of a ~315!-level atom. The description of atomic motion in the trap is based on the quantum kinetic equations for the atomic density matrix and the...

An all optical dynamical dark trap for neutral atoms.

We describe the experimental realization of a dynamical optical trap for atoms: the Rotating Off-resonant Dipole Optical (RODiO) Trap. A blue detuned circularly scanned laser beam creates a time averaged ;;box" for the atoms. We characterized this novel confinement technique by varying the trapping geometry and the laser beam parameters. Our observations agree well with a numerical model.

Nonlinear dynamics of atoms in a crossed optical dipole trap.

We explore the classical dynamics of atoms in an optical dipole trap formed by two identical Gaussian beams propagating in perpendicular directions. The phase space is a mixture of regular and chaotic orbits, the latter becoming dominant as the energy of the atoms increases. The trapping capabilities of these perpendicular Gaussian beams are investigated by considering an atomic ensemble in fre...

Nondestructive light-shift measurements of single atoms in optical dipole traps

We measure the ac Stark shifts of the 5S1/2,F = 2 → 5P3/2,F ′ = 3 transitions of individual optically trapped 87Rb atoms using a nondestructive detection technique that allows us to measure the fluorescent signal of one and the same atom for over 60 s. These measurements allow the efficient and rapid characterization of single-atom traps that is required for many coherent quantum information pr...