Collective quantum behavior of atomic ensembles in high-finesse optical cavities
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Spin-squeezed states (SSS) are collective atomic states whose Heisenberg uncertainty properties have been altered, either by state transfer from squeezed light, or, as presented here, by a quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement of a light field after it has probed the atomic system. These states are of interest for their potentially large increases in measurement precision in atom-based experiments, and for the study of many-particle entanglement. The body of work related to generating these novel states through measurement of a non-destructive probe (after interaction with the atomic system) can be split into two general groups: Those using atoms in free space, and those using optical cavities. This dissertation will focus on the approach using optical cavities, increasing the effective optical depth, and therefore the interaction strength between the atoms and the light. The first experiment will describe a quantum nondemolition measurement to probe the collective pseudospin of an atomic ensemble in a high-finesse optical cavity. We analyze the backaction antisqueezing produced by the measurement process to show that our protocol could create conditional spin squeezing in the atomic ensemble. However, technical measurement noise and residual variations in atom-cavity coupling limit our ability to observe squeezing while preserving coherence. In the second experiment we attempt to remove these main sources of noise by trapping the atoms in a far red-detuned optical lattice with twice the wavelength of the probe light. This wavelength configuration ensures that lattice antinodes, where the atoms are trapped, are always overlapped with probe antinodes, ensuring maximum coupling between the atoms and the probe field. The trapping also prevents atoms from exploring the cavity mode, eliminating noise due to variations in atom-cavity coupling. Finally, I will describe a third experiment (unrelated to spin squeezing) in which we experimentally realized a Raman laser in a high-finesse optical cavity. The large collective cooperativity of the atom-cavity system manifests in some interesting threshold behavior of the cavity output power, which we can describe using a simple model. Although not directly related to spin squeezing, a lasing system with the highly configurable gain medium presented here could have applications as a light source in precision measurement.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2011 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Vrijsen, Geert F. N |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Applied Physics |
| Primary advisor | Kasevich, Mark A |
| Thesis advisor | Kasevich, Mark A |
| Thesis advisor | Hollberg, Leo (Leo William) |
| Thesis advisor | Vuckovic, Jelena |
| Advisor | Hollberg, Leo (Leo William) |
| Advisor | Vuckovic, Jelena |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Geert Vrijsen. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Applied Physics. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph. D.)--Stanford University, 2011. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2011 by Geert F.N. Vrijsen
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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