Engineering topics

Hetet, G

Publications and source records attributed to Hetet, G.

3 records

DOE OSTI2011

Single Atom as a Mirror of an Optical Cavity

By tightly focusing a laser field onto a single cold ion trapped in front of a far-distant dielectric mirror, we could observe a quantum electrodynamic effect whereby the ion behaves as the optical mirror of a Fabry-Perot cavity. We show that the amplitude of the laser field is significantly altered due to a modification of the electromagnetic mode structure around the atom in a novel regime in which the laser intensity is already changed by the atom alone. We propose a direct application of this system as a quantum memory for single photons.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2010

QED with a spherical mirror

We investigate the quantum electrodynamic (QED) properties of an atomic electron close to the focus of a spherical mirror. We first show that the spontaneous emission and excited-state level shift of the atom can be fully suppressed with mirror-atom distances of many wavelengths. A three-dimensional theory predicts that the spectral density of vacuum fluctuations can indeed vanish within a volume {lambda}{sup 3} around the atom, with the use of a far-distant mirror covering only half of the atomic emission solid angle. The modification of these QED atomic properties is also computed as a function of the mirror size, and large effects are found for only moderate numerical apertures. We also evaluate the long-distance ground-state energy shift (Casimir-Polder shift) and find that it scales as ({lambda}/R){sup 2} at the focus of a hemispherical mirror of radius R, as opposed to the well-known ({lambda}/R){sup 4} scaling law for an atom at a distance R from an infinite plane mirror. Our results are relevant for investigations of QED effects as well as free-space coupling to single atoms using high-numerical-aperture lenses.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2010

ac Stark gradient echo memory in cold atoms

The burgeoning fields of quantum computing and quantum key distribution have created a demand for a quantum memory. The gradient echo memory scheme is a quantum memory candidate for light storage that can boast efficiencies approaching unity, as well as the flexibility to work with either two- or three-level atoms. The key to this scheme is the frequency gradient that is placed across the memory. Currently, the three-level implementation uses a Zeeman gradient and warm atoms. In this article we model an alternate gradient-creation mechanism--the ac Stark effect--to provide an improvement in the flexibility of gradient-creation and field-switching times. We propose this scheme in concert with a move to cold atoms ({approx_equal}1 mK). These temperatures would increase the storage times possible, and the small ensemble volumes would enable large ac Stark shifts with reasonable laser power. We find that memory bandwidths on the order of MHz can be produced with experimentally achievable laser powers and trapping volumes, with high precision in gradient creation and switching times on the order of nanoseconds possible. By looking at the different decoherence mechanisms present in this system, we determine that coherence times on the order of tens of milliseconds are possible, as are delay-bandwidth products of approximately 50 and efficiencies over 90%.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗