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Results for “dipole-dipole interactions”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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49 records · Page 3

Controlling Interactions between Quantum Emitters Using Atom Arrays

We investigate the potential for two-dimensional atom arrays to modify the radiation and interaction of individual quantum emitters. Specifically, we demonstrate that control over the emission linewidths, resonant frequency shifts, and local driving field enhancement in impurity atoms is possible due to strong dipole-dipole interactions within ordered, subwavelength atom array configurations. We demonstrate that these effects can be used to dramatically enhance coherent dipole-dipole interactions between distant impurity atoms within an atom array. Possible experimental realizations and potential applications are discussed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Dipole-Dipole Frequency Shifts in Multilevel Atoms

Dipole-dipole interactions lead to frequency shifts that are expected to limit the performance of next-generation atomic clocks. In this work, we compute dipolar frequency shifts accounting for the intrinsic atomic multilevel structure in standard Ramsey spectroscopy. When interrogating the transitions featuring the smallest Clebsch-Gordan coefficients, we find that a simplified two-level treatment becomes inappropriate, even in the presence of large Zeeman shifts. Further, for these cases, we show a net suppression of dipolar frequency shifts and the emergence of dominant nonclassical effects for experimentally relevant parameters. Our findings are pertinent to current generations of optical lattice and optical tweezer clocks, opening a way to further increase their current accuracy, and thus their potential to probe fundamental and many-body physics.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Observation of Scale Invariance in Two-Dimensional Matter-Wave Townes Solitons

We report near-deterministic generation of two-dimensional (2D) matter-wave Townes solitons, and a precision test on scale invariance in attractive 2D Boses gases. We induce a shape-controlled modulational instability in an elongated 2D matter-wave to create an array of isolated solitary waves of various sizes and peak densities. We confirm scale invariance by observing the collapse of solitary-wave density profiles onto a single curve in a dimensionless coordinate rescaled according to their peak densities, and observe that the scale-invariant profiles measured at different coupling constants can further collapse onto the universal profile of Townes solitons. The reported scaling behavior is tested with a nearly 60-fold difference in soliton interaction energies, and allows us to discuss the impact of a non-negligible magnetic dipole-dipole interaction (MDDI) on 2D scale invariance. Here, we confirm that the effect of MDDI in our alkali cesium quasi-2D samples effectively conforms to the same scaling law governed by a contact interaction to well within our experiment uncertainty.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Asymmetric Blockade and Multiqubit Gates via Dipole-Dipole Interactions

Because of their strong and tunable interactions, Rydberg atoms can be used to realize fast two-qubit entangling gates. We propose a generalization of a generic two-qubit Rydberg-blockade gate to multiqubit Rydberg-blockade gates that involve both many control qubits and many target qubits simultaneously. This is achieved by using strong microwave fields to dress nearby Rydberg states, leading to asymmetric blockade in which control-target interactions are much stronger than control-control and target-target interactions. Further, the implementation of these multiqubit gates can drastically simplify both quantum algorithms and state preparation. To illustrate this, we show that a 25-atom Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state can be created using only three gates with an error of 5.8%.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Coupling Two Laser-Cooled Ions via a Room-Temperature Conductor

We demonstrate coupling between the motions of two independently trapped ions with a separation distance of 620 μm. Here, the ion-ion interaction is enhanced via a room-temperature electrically floating metallic wire which connects two surface traps. Tuning the motion of both ions into resonance, we show flow of energy with a coupling rate of 11 Hz. Quantum-coherent coupling is hindered by strong surface electric-field noise in our device. Our ion-wire-ion system demonstrates that room-temperature conductors can be used to mediate and tune interactions between independently trapped charges over distances beyond those achievable with free-space dipole-dipole coupling. This technology may be used to sympathetically cool or entangle remotely trapped charges and enable coupling between disparate physical systems.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Enhancement of Rydberg Blockade via Microwave Dressing

Experimental control over the strength and angular dependence of interactions between atoms is a key capability for advancing quantum technologies. Here, in this work, we use microwave dressing to manipulate and enhance Rydberg-Rydberg interactions in an atomic ensemble. By varying the cloud length relative to the blockade radius and measuring the statistics of the light retrieved from the ensemble, we demonstrate a clear enhancement of the interaction strength due to microwave dressing. These results are successfully captured by a theoretical model that accounts for the excitation dynamics, atomic density distribution, and phase-matched retrieval efficiency. Our approach offers a versatile platform for further engineering interactions by exploiting additional features of the microwave fields, such as polarization and detuning, opening pathways for new quantum control strategies.

collective effects in quantum optics↗

Quasi-one-dimensional Ising-like antiferromagnetism in the rare-earth perovskite oxide TbScO 3

The rare-earth perovskite TbScO 3 has been widely used as a substrate for the growth of epitaxial ferroelectric and multiferroic thin films, while its detailed low-temperature magnetic properties were rarely reported. In this paper, we performed detailed magnetization, specific heat, and single crystal neutron scattering measurements, along with the crystalline electric field calculations to study the low-temperature magnetic properties of TbScO 3. All our results suggest the magnetic Tb 3+ has an Ising-like pseudo-doublet ground state at low temperatures. Due to the constrain of local point symmetry, these Tb 3+ Ising moments are confined in the ab plane with a tilt angle of φ=±48° to the a axis. In zero field, the system undergoes an antiferromagnetic phase transition at T N =2.53 K, and forms a G x A y noncollinear magnetic structure below T N . Here, we find the dipole-dipole interactions play an important role to determine the magnetic ground state, which are also responsible for the quasi-one-dimensional magnetism in TbScO 3 . The significant anisotropic diffuse scatterings further confirm the quasi-one-dimensional magnetism along the c axis. The magnetic phase diagram with the field along the easy b axis is well established. In addition to the G x A y antiferromagnetic state, there is an exotic field-induced phase emerged near the critical field B c ≃0.7 T, where three-dimensional magnetic order is suppressed but strong one-dimensional correlations may still exist.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Directional Superradiance in a Driven Ultracold Atomic Gas in Free Space

Ultracold atomic systems are among the most promising platforms that have the potential to shed light on the complex behavior of many-body quantum systems. One prominent example is the case of a dense ensemble illuminated by a strong coherent drive while interacting via dipole-dipole interactions. Despite being subjected to intense investigations, this system retains many open questions. A recent experiment carried out in a pencil-shaped geometry [Ferioli Nat. Phys. 19, 1345 (2023)] has reported measurements that have seemed consistent with the emergence of strong collective effects in the form of a “superradiant” phase transition in free space, when looking at the light-emission properties in the forward direction. Motivated by the experimental observations, we carry out a systematic theoretical analysis of the steady-state properties of the system as a function of the driving strength and atom number N . We observe signatures of collective effects in the weak-driving regime, which disappear with increasing drive strength as the system evolves into a single-particle-like mixed state comprised of randomly aligned dipoles. Although the steady state features some similarities to the reported superradiant-to-normal nonequilibrium transition, also known as cooperative resonance fluorescence, we observe significant qualitative and quantitative differences, including a different scaling of the critical drive parameter (from N to N ). We validate the applicability of a mean-field treatment to capture the steady-state dynamics under currently accessible conditions. Furthermore, we develop a simple theoretical model that explains the scaling properties by accounting for interaction-induced inhomogeneous effects and spontaneous emission, which are intrinsic features of interacting disordered arrays in free space. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Agarwal, Sanaa (ORCID:0000000336863804)↗

Spin Squeezing with Itinerant Magnetic Dipoles

Entanglement can improve the measurement precision of quantum sensors beyond the shot noise limit. Neutral atoms, the basis of some of the most precise and accurate optical clocks and interferometers, do not naturally exhibit the all-to-all interactions traditionally used to generate such entangled states. On the other hand, these systems exhibit exceedingly high degrees of experimental control over parameters such as temperature, spatial entropy, and itinerancy. In this work, we investigate spin squeezing in a highly coherent itinerant system of neutral atoms with magnetic dipole-dipole interactions. We achieve 7.1 dB of metrologically useful squeezing using finite-range spin-exchange interactions in an erbium quantum gas microscope, and we demonstrate that introducing atomic motion, realizing a dipolar 𝑡−𝐽 model, protects the spin sector coherence at low fillings, significantly improving the achievable spin squeezing in a 2D dipolar system. This work’s protocol can be implemented with most neutral atoms, opening the door to quantum-enhanced metrology in other itinerant dipolar systems, such as molecules or optical lattice clocks, and serves as a novel method for studying itinerant quantum magnetism with long-range interactions.

Atomic, optical & lattice clocks↗

Observation of millihertz-level cooperative Lamb shifts in an optical atomic clock

Collective couplings of atomic dipoles to a shared electromagnetic environment produce a wide range of many-body phenomena. We report on the direct observation of resonant electric dipole-dipole interactions in a cubic array of atoms in the many-excitation limit. The interactions produce spatially dependent cooperative Lamb shifts when spectroscopically interrogating the millihertz-wide optical clock transition in strontium-87. We show that the ensemble-averaged shifts can be suppressed below the level of evaluated systematic uncertainties for optical atomic clocks. Additionally, we demonstrate that excitation of the atomic dipoles near a Bragg angle can enhance these effects by nearly an order of magnitude compared with nonresonant geometries. Our work demonstrates a platform for precise studies of the quantum many-body physics of spins with long-range interactions mediated by propagating photons.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗

Fluorine-free strongly dipolar polymers exhibit tunable ferroelectricity

Current research on ferroelectric polymers centers predominantly on poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)–based fluoropolymers because of their superior performance. However, they are considered “forever chemicals” with environmental concerns. Here, we describe a family of rationally designed fluorine-free ferroelectric polymers, featuring a polyoxypropylene main chain and disulfonyl alkyl side chains with a C3 spacer: −SO 2 CH 2 CHRCH 2 SO 2 − (R = −H or −CH 3 ). Both experimental and simulation results demonstrate that strong dipole-dipole interactions between neighboring disulfonyl groups induce ferroelectric ordering in the condensed state, which can be tailored by changing the R group: ferroelectric for R = −H or relaxor ferroelectric for R = −CH 3 . At low electric fields, the relaxor polymer exhibits electroactuation and electrocaloric performance comparable with those of state-of-the-art PVDF-based tetrapolymers.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

An Integrated Theoretical and Experimental Approach to Achieve Highly Polarizable Relaxor Ferroelectric Liquid Crystalline Polymers

In this project, we have designed and synthesized a series of aliphatic sulfonlyated chiral and achiral polyether. The major objective is to achieve ferroelectric liquid crystalline polymers with a high spontaneous polarization (0.04-0.08 C/m2). Due to the strong dipole-dipole interaction among the sulfonyl side groups, which resembles that among water molecules, these polyethers can exhibit various liquid crystalline self-assemblies without any rigid mesogens. By tuning the position of the sulfonyl groups, single versus double sulfonyl groups, and spacer/tail length and methyl branches, the liquid crystalline phases include smectic A, smectic C, and hexagonal columnar phases. When the single sulfonyl group is next to the main chain or disulfonyl groups are separated by a short C3 spacer, the dipolar interaction is too strong to allow any dipole switching. As a result, the linear dielectric behavior is observed with a low dielectric constant of 5-7. When the single sulfonyl groups are away from the main chain, the paraelectric behavior is obtained with a high dielectric constant around 20. From this study, we predict that by further tailoring the intermolecular interactions among the disulfonyl side groups, it is possible to achieve ferroelectric property for these liquid crystalline polymers. If successful, these ferroelectric liquid crystalline polymers can be used for efficient electrocaloric cooling applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗