Studying the possibility of deep laser cooling of <Superscript>24</Superscript>Mg atoms in an optical lattice: Two-level quantum model

The possible deep laser cooling of ²⁴Mg atoms in a deep optical lattice in the presence of an additional pumping field resonant to the narrow 3s3s¹S₀ → 3s3p³P₁ (λ = 457 nm) optical transition is studied. Two quantum models of the laser cooling of atoms in the optical trap are compared. One is based on the direct numerical solution to the kinetic quantum equation for an atomic density matrix; it considers both optical pumping and quantum recoil effects during interaction between the atoms and field photons. The second, simplified model is based on decomposing the states of the atoms over the levels of vibration in the optical trap and analyzing the evolution of these states. The comparison allows derivation of optical field parameters (pumping field intensity and detuning) that ensure cooling of the atoms to minimal energies. The conditions for fast laser cooling in an optical trap are found.     

Kinetics of atoms in a bichromatic field

The kinetics of atoms in a bichromatic field is considered. Analytic solutions are obtained for the force, friction coefficient, and diffusion coefficient in the model of a two-level atom without limitations imposed on the intensity of light fields. This effect is observed in the domain of global minima and maxima of the optical potential (i.e., at points where the relative phase of two standing waves is ? = 0, π/2.     

Experimental investigation of the dark pseudoresonance on the <Emphasis Type="Italic">D</Emphasis>1 line of the <Superscript>87</Superscript>Rb atom excited by a linearly polarized field

The measurements of the metrological characteristics (amplitude, width, and shift in the magnetic field) of the dark pseudoresonance, which was proposed by Kazakov et al. [quant-ph/0506167] as the reference resonance for an atomic frequency standard, are reported. It has been shown that the characteristics of the pseudoresonance are worse than those of the unsplit electromagnetically induced transparency resonance for the excitation scheme with the lin‖lin polarization on the D1 line of the ⁸⁷Rb atom.     

On the unique possibility of significantly increasing the contrast of dark resonances on the D1 line of <Superscript>87</Superscript>Rb

We propose and study, theoretically and experimentally, a new scheme of excitation of a coherent population trapping resonance for the D1 line of alkali atoms with nuclear spin I = 3/2 by bichromatic linearly polarized light (lin‖lin field) under the conditions of spectral resolution of the excited state. The unique properties of this scheme result in a high contrast of dark resonance for the D1 line of ⁸⁷Rb.     

The light pressure force and the friction and diffusion coefficients for atoms in a resonant nonuniformly polarized laser field

The motion of slow atoms with degenerate energy levels in a resonant, nonuniformly polarized laser field is described by the Fokker-Planck equation for the atomic distribution function in phase space in terms of the semiclassical approach. Field gradient expansions are used for the spatially nonuniform coefficients of the equation. For closed atomic transitions J _g =J→J _e =J+1 (J _g and J _e are the total angular momenta of the ground and excited states, respectively), new analytical results are presented for the light pressure force and the friction and diffusion coefficients in momentum space. These results allow the kinetic effects (laser cooling, localization in optical potential wells, etc.) in a field of arbitrary one-, two-, or three-dimensional configuration to be investigated. In several cases, the new contributions to the friction coefficient are interpreted qualitatively.     

Optical lattice induced light shifts in an yb atomic clock

We present an experimental study of the lattice-induced light shifts on the (1)S(0) --> (3)P(0) optical clock transition (nu(clock) approximately 518 THz) in neutral ytterbium. The "magic" frequency nu(magic) for the 174Yb isotope was determined to be 394 799 475(35) MHz, which leads to a first order light shift uncertainty of 0.38 Hz. We also investigated the hyperpolarizability shifts due to the nearby 6s6p(3)P(0) --> 6s8p(3)P(0), 6s8p(3)P(2), and 6s5f(3)F(2) two-photon resonances at 759.708, 754.23, and 764.95 nm, respectively. By measuring the corresponding clock transition shifts near these two-photon resonances, the hyperpolarizability shift was estimated to be 170(33) mHz for a linear polarized, 50 microK deep, lattice at the magic wavelength. These results indicate that the differential polarizability and hyperpolarizability frequency shift uncertainties in a Yb lattice clock could be held to well below 10(-17).     

Shift and asymmetry of the saturated absorption resonance in the field of counterpropagating elliptically polarized waves

The saturated absorption resonance in an atomic gas in the field of counterpropagating light waves with an arbitrary elliptical polarization is investigated. A conclusion about the peculiarities of the resonance shape is drawn from a general analysis of the symmetry of the problem. In particular, a new effect has been found: the polarization parameters of the light waves can lead to an asymmetry and shift of the resonance. These conclusions are corroborated by an approximate analytical solution for the F _g = 1 → F _e = 2 transition and by numerical calculations. Apart from their fundamental importance, the results obtained can have important applications in metrology (frequency and time standards).     

High-contrast dark resonances on the D<Subscript>1</Subscript> line of alkali metals in the field of counterpropagating waves

A new method providing a significant increase in the amplitude and contrast of dark resonances is proposed. The method is based on the use of the σ₊?σ_? configuration of polarized counterpropagating waves, D₁-line excitation in alkali metal atoms, and small-sized cells. Qualitative considerations of the scheme are confirmed by the results of numerical calculations. A variant of a standing wave with homogeneous circular polarization is also discussed.     

Effect of the polarization of counterpropagating light waves on nonlinear resonances of the electromagnetically induced transparency and absorption in the Hanle configuration

A polarization method has been proposed for transforming the nonlinear electromagnetically induced transparency resonance into the electromagnetically induced absorption resonance (and vice versa) in the Hanle configuration in the field of counterpropagating waves. Numerical calculations have been performed for the F _g = 2 → F _e = 1 and F _g = 2 → F _e = 3 transitions in the ⁸⁷Rb atom. The qualitative analysis of the effect has been performed for the three-level Λ scheme of the atomic energy levels. The main theoretical conclusions are in qualitative agreement with our experimental data for ⁸⁷Rb. The results can be applied in magnetometry and nonlinear optics.     

Experimental preparation of pure superposition states of atoms via elliptically polarized bichromatic radiation

We propose a simple and effective way of creating pure dark superposition states. The generation of pure states is carried out by using bichromatic radiation with controllable polarization ellipticity. We experimentally confirm analytic formulas for polarization ellipticity to obtain m-m pure dark states in the system of Zeeman sublevels of alkali atoms. For 87Rb we experimentally accumulated 60% of the atoms in the 0-0 dark state and 50% into the (+/-1) - (+/-1) dark states.