In this thesis, I present a novel technique enabling three-dimensional localization of single atoms in an optical lattice up to sub-micrometer precision over an enhanced depth of field from a single experimental image. It consists of changing the microscope’s response to a point source, the so-called point spread function (PSF), such that it has an azimuthally structured shape, performing a rigid rotation along the observation axis, the angle of which provides information about the axial position. This is done by imposing on the collected fluorescence light a phase modulation built up from a superposition of Laguerre-Gauss modes in the pupil plane by a spatial light modulator (SLM). I demonstrate this method using the DQSIM quantum gas microscope with an engineered double-helix-shaped PSF. As I show, this enables axial resolution at the level of the vertical lattice separation of 532 nm even at lower numerical apertures while preserving the lateral resolution, overcoming the limitations of retrieving the axial position through the defocus alone.
In Chapter 1, I present the experimental setup of the DQSIM experiment in Chapter 2. I particularly address the aspects necessary for the understanding of the subsequent measurements, as well as my contributions to the setup. Chapter 3 is about my contributions to a deep horizontal lattice. In Chapter 4, I present the three-dimensional imaging of single atoms. I describe the technique of preparing atoms in a single plane, the concept of PSF, and the resolution limit. I then discuss existing methods of three-dimensional imaging, in particular the rotating PSFs. Finally, I present the experimental realization and the measurements performed. Chapter 5 draws a conclusion and gives an outlook to this thesis.
Zu Beginn der Arbeit werden in Abschnitt 2.1 Funktionsweise und Besonderheiten von Faser-Fabry-Perot-Resonatoren erläutert. Eine Einführung in Cavity-Ring-Down-Spektroskopie und eine erste Abschätzung der Genauigkeit, welche in einem miniaturisierten CRDS-Experiment mit Faserresonatoren erreicht werden sollte, folgen in Abschnitt 2.2. Die neu entwickelten Designs für monolithische FFPR werden in Kapitel 3 eingeführt. In den Abschnitten 3.1 und 3.2 wird erläutert, wie hier bei stabiler und kompakter Bauweise die Ausrichtungsgenauigkeit der Faserspiegel gewährleistet werden kann. Anschließend wird das Herstellungsverfahren der monolithischen FFPR beschrieben (Abschnitt 3.3). Kapitel 4 wendet sich schließlich dem Aufbau zu, mit welchem CRDS mit monolithischen FFPR erprobt werden soll. In diesem Aufbau wird das Licht eines durchstimmbaren Lasers (Abschnitt 4.1) in den Resonator gekoppelt, dessen Reflexionssignal auf einem Oszilloskop betrachtet werden kann (Abschnitt 4.2). Zur Durchführung von Spektroskopie-Messungen wird der Resonator in einer Kammer platziert, die mit einem Gasgemisch aus Sauerstoff und Stickstoff gefüllt wird (Abschnitt 4.3). Eine experimentelle Erprobung von CRDS mit diesem Aufbau steht zum Zeitpunkt der Abgabe dieser Arbeit noch aus.
In this thesis, I present fluorescence imaging of 87Rb atoms inside an optical cavity using the Raman imaging technique. The first part describes precision measurements of differential light shifts that occur during continuous Raman sideband cooling. The light shifts are caused by the optical repumper beam and modify the two-photon resonance of the Raman coupling. The cooling process is modeled by means of a three-level system that takes into account the Raman coupling and the repumping process. We find qualitative agreement between the estimated and the measured light shifts. In addition, we identified the optimum cooling parameters and confirmed that near ground-state cooling is achieved. We also observe that it is beneficial to detune the optical repumping beam away from resonance in order to suppress detrimental heating due to dipole-force fluctuations.
The characterization of differential light shifts is subsequently used to optimize the fluorescence imaging of atoms inside the resonator. We implement Raman imaging which is based on detecting the repumper fluorescence during continuous Raman sideband cooling. The complexity of the parameter space is reduced via a two-photon feed-forward which maintains the resonance with the Raman cooling sideband when varying the repumper parameters. A new imaging system was installed in order to suppress spurious background light that was blinding the camera. The optimization of the fluorescence is discussed and a mean signal-to-noise ratio of about six is obtained for an exposure time of 1 s. Using the cavity-based atom detection we independently measure the probability that a single atom survives the exposure time. We obtain survival probabilities exceeding 80 % and lifetimes up to 55 s which are believed to be vacuum-limited. In conclusion, Raman imaging is successfully applied to image small atomic ensembles inside the resonator. This constitutes the first step towards photon storage experiments with multiple atoms.
In addition, I present theoretical calculations regarding photon generation in an atom-cavity system. The shaping of the single-photon temporal wave function is discussed which is based on tailoring the corresponding control laser pulse. For sufficiently smooth temporal envelopes any pulse shape can be generated as long as the dynamics are adiabatic. We study the breakdown of the adiabatic approximation for our cavity parameters by means of numerical simulations and find that the photon generation fidelity drops when the characteristic pulse time approaches the inverse cavity linewidth. The control laser pulse with time-dependent Rabi frequency induces light shifts on the atomic levels. Thereby, a phase chirp is imprinted onto the generated photon which reduces the photon generation fidelity if no chirp-compensation is applied. As an alternative to chirp compensation via active phase modulation of the control laser beam, I present a mechanism for passive chirp compensation based on a bichromatic driving field. This scheme makes use of two optical frequency components that mutually cancel each others light shifts. Implementing the latter requires only a single amplitude modulator and no additional phase modulator.
Theoretical work mostly describes photon generation by means of an atomic Λ-system with one electronic excited state. In real atoms there are, however, additional excited states present. The off-resonant coupling to several excited states can cause a destructive interference which reduces the photon emission efficiency for certain parameter choices. I presented a model of photon generation that takes into account a second degenerate cavity mode with orthogonal polarization and includes off-resonant couplings to multiple excited states. In this case, the off-resonant couplings can be exploited to tune the branching ratio of photon emission into the two degenerate orthogonal polarization modes of the cavity. Thereby, the photon emission can be guided into a balanced polarization superposition state. This provides means of maximizing the Bell state projection probability of entanglement distribution schemes.
This work presents an alternative method for analyzing EMCCD-microscopy images of two-dimensional quantum optical lattices, using neuronal networks to automate the recognition of lattice occupation states. We introduce a multi-step algorithm, whose overall performance as well as step-by-step performance is analyzed, and which is compared to several different architectures. Training the networks requires a large amount of training data with known lattice occupation states. These images are simulated by convolution of the experimentally estimated point spread function of the imaging system with the atomic distribution masks. The algorithm allows for an accuracy of up to 99.76 % on our simulated data.
In this work, I report on the imaging and preparation of small atomic ensembles inside our fiber cavity. In Chapter 2, non-destructive techniques for determining the number of atoms loaded into the mode of the cavity are presented. Fluorescence images obtained via Raman cooling imaging [35] are analyzed by means of atom position determination and fluorescence integration. Furthermore, a non-invasive and resource-efficient multi-atom loading technique, based on atom accumulation at the orthogonal lattice crossing under continuous transport, is proposed. The method is studied by a classical 1D numerical simulation in Chapter 3, to explore the parameter space and dynamics of this loading technique. In Chapter 4, the implementation of the novel loading technique is explained and measurement results are compared to the numerical findings. Finally, it is compared to two alternative loading methods and their spatial loading distributions are analyzed. The Appendix presents the procedure for the interferometric alignment of the focal points of the four aspheric lenses used to focus the dipole trap beams and to image the trapped atoms.
This thesis details the experimental efforts towards quantification of laser frequency noise by the use of an optical frequency discriminator and its suppression by means of measuring and reducing optical path length differences to prevent heating and loss of ultracold Caesium atoms trapped in two-dimensional state-dependent optical lattice. The discriminator used is a Fabry-Perót cavity with the side-of-fringe locking technique to be sensitive to frequency fluctuations of the input light field which are detected as changes in the intensity of the cavity signal. The measured noise spectrum revealed the performance of the laser in the frequency domain and was used to refine the same. A reduction in the laser linewidth was achieved in this manner. The same cavity was also transformed in to a transfer cavity to prevent long-term drift in the laser frequency. The frequency noise cannot be completely eliminated from the laser and so the task then became the reduction of the optical path length differences in the experiment by which the noise can manifest at the postion of the atoms. Conditions for achieving minimal path length differences were derived. Three methods were employed to measure the path length differences: A geometric distance measurement, an optical measurement using interferometry and at last using the atoms. The use of the atoms in particular displayed the extent to which the common-mode frequency noise can influence the experiment.
In this thesis, I present how the Lorentzian linewidth of a DBR laser was reduced by implementing an external optical feedback path. Chapter 2 deals with the theoretical framework of effects of the external optical feedback on semiconductor laser and regimes of feedback in distributed feedback lasers. To measure and quantify the linewidth of the DBR laser subject to controlled optical feedback, a delayed-self heterodyne (DSH) measurement was setup and is described in Chapter 3. DBR lasers are affected not only by white frequency noise but also low-frequency flicker and random walk noise. These noise components restrict the analysis of the DSH spectrum analytically, hence a simulation based fitting routine based on is used. A comprehensive analysis of the Lorentzian linewidth is presented. An estimate on the linewidth arising from the flicker and random-walk frequency noise is also presented in this thesis. With this improvement to the DBR laser, I present in Chapter 4, the implementation of carrier-free Raman sideband cooling in the main experiment.
Diese Bachelorarbeit beschäftigt sich mit dem LCoS räumlichen Lichtmodulator (SLM). Dabei soll die durch Phasenmodulation erfolgende Holografie und der auf Amplitudenmodulation beruhende Aufbau der direkten Abbildung verglichen werden. Insbesondere liegt das Augenmerk auf der Verwendung des SLM zur Erstellung von Intensitätsmustern im zweidimensionalen optischen Gitter des 2D discrete quantum simulator (DQSIM). Es wurden dafür Muster mit beiden Modulationsmodi aufgenommen und analysiert. Die direkte Abbildung liefert im Vergleich zur Holografie Muster mit besserer Ebenheit, Auflösung und Hintergrund-Dunkelheit bei vergleichbarem Kontrast und Signal-Rausch- Verhältnis. Die Holografie kann jedoch je nach Muster eine höhere Lichtausbeute bieten.
A fully fiber integrated way to enhance the mode-matching is to apply optics in the form of graded-index fiber lenses, as it is presented by G.K. Gulati et al. To determine the cavity length, a multimode fiber piece of a specific size is used to terminate the assembly and act as a substrate for the fiber mirror. This concept requires precise control over the length of the fiber pieces and advanced splicing techniques with low losses and negligible mode deterioration. In their work, all used fibers with different outer diameters complicating the handling of the fiber mirrors. In this thesis, it has been tried to produce an assembly of equally sized fibers with 125 μm diameter. Further, elaborate ways of length control and fiber splicing have been investigated, enhancing the quality of fiber lens based mode-matching optics.
Based on the specific application, one requires fiber mirrors of different radii of curvature and diameter. To implement state-of-the-art fiber mirror production techniques in our research group, a new versatile laser ablation setup has been built. This allows the production of ultra-smooth mirror surfaces with much larger range of radii of curvature and diameters compared to the old one.
Further, a new assembly setup for fiber cavities has been realized. This setup is used for fabricating and characterizing cavities for the FCQED experiment of this research group.
With the given advantages, fiber Fabry-Perot cavities are used in numerous applications, e.g. in our photon storage and retrieval experiment or in quantum repeater nodes. By efficiently interfacing almost any emitter, they are also expected to improve the performance of single-photon sources and quantum memories. Apart from quantum information, numerous possible fields of application can be listed, e.g. spectral filtering of light or cavity enhanced spectroscopy.
In the following chapter, theoretical fundamentals of fiber Fabry-Perot cavities will be presented.
To give a full picture of the fabrication process of mode-matched optical fiber cavities the procedure of fabricating mirror surfaces is described in chapter 3. There, the principle of laser ablation and the production setup is explained. Further, a surface reconstruction method and obtained cross-sections of a processed fiber are shown.
Chapter 4 deals with the assembly of cavities for our experiment from the retrieved fiber mirrors. Here, the cavity design and its specific production procedure are introduced. It is followed by a description of the technique to retrieve information about the coupling and the finesse by resonance observation.
In the last chapter, the procedures to enhance the spatial mode-matching between fiber and cavity mode are presented.
This thesis is a study of the decoherence mechanisms effecting the apparatus. A feed forward magnetic field stabilisation is presented, aiming at the reduction of magnetic field noise. Furthermore, the dephasing due to magnetic field noise is classified as homogeneous, by carrying out homogeneous dephasing insensitive Ramsey interferometry. During the process of this thesis an analysis technique was developed to investigate the dephasing due to transition frequency fluctuations of the implemented qubit on the example of magnetic field noise. Revealing a full understanding and prediction of the coherence due to the investigated noise source. As an outlook for further investigations a post correction for magnetic field noise effecting the apparatus is presented, indicating a limit for future magnetic field stabilisations.
During my time at the 1D experiment, we modified the Raman laser setup with an AOM, supplementary optics and control circuitry to allow us to produce fast Raman pulses. We have successfully demonstrated our ability to induce Rabi oscillations in a sample of Caesium atoms with Rabi frequencies up to 1.4 MHz. We have put this to use to develop a new method to measure the radial temperature in our optical lattice setup and perform Ramsey interferometry. The temperature measurement made use of the Gaussian intensity distribution of the Raman laser beams addressing the atoms and of the subsequent differences in induced Rabi frequency over the trapped atoms. We were able to model the behaviour and extract the radial temperature at laser powers of up to 1 mW per Raman beam.
We performed Ramsey interferometry with the new system, using a Keysight FPGA for the phase modulation of the π/2 pulses. The new hardware was integrated into the existing experimental sequences and it provides the opportunity to further simplify the setup since three of its output channels are still unused. The Mandelstam-Tamm speed limit was probed by measuring the evolution of the wave function from its initial to an orthogonal state. This measurement was done by performing Ramsey interferometry with an additional lattice shift between the two characteristic π/2 pulses. We verified the validity of the quantum speed limit through our measurements, which showed for trap depths of 14.286 μK, 28.689 μK and 57.813 μK that the evolution time was slower than the limit predicted through calculation.
The content of this thesis will be divided into 3 parts. In the first chapter, I will go over the theory behind the optical lattice setup, how the experiment is designed and the necessary steps towards an experiment-ready atom sample. I will also cover the derivation of the quantum speed limit. The second chapter will treat the design, operation and calibration of the Raman laser setup, which was modified to perform fast pulses, phase modulation of these pulses and ultimately Ramsey interferometry. The third chapter treats the experiments performed with the aforementioned laser setup, the results and analysis. At the end, I will give a short summary and an outlook on the next possible steps to take with the working setup and which further experiments might be performed.
Our group’s 2D Discrete Quantum Simulator (DQSIM) experiment is dedicated to the idea of a discrete time quantum walk. A quantum walk is the quantum mechanical analogue of a classical random walk. Discrete refers here to the timing in which evolution operators are applied to two quantum systems, a walker and a coin. It not only exhibits different statistics than the classical counterpart but may be employed in a multitude of ways. For example the experimental simulation of a perfect conductor in which Bloch oscillations are performed or the simulation of topological systems that are otherwise inaccessible in solid state physical scales.
The first chapter reviews the DQSIM setup and necessary concepts to assess the place the content of the thesis is going to take within the experimental effort of our group. Then this thesis deals with two additions to the DQSIM experiment. The first part concerns a specifically designed photodiode amplifier circuit to improve the intensity stabilization of the lattice beams. Improving it would ensure that the coherence time of the atoms isn’t limited by intensity noise any more.
The second part introduces a scheme to realize compression of atomic ensembles trapped in our optical lattice. Furthermore it is a first step in achieving an efficient single plane selection and addressing in our experiment opening the door to many-particle quantum walks. The thesis concludes with a discussion about initial experimental attempts on compression and a summary of the results.
Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit soll die Intensität eines Lasers über eine Feedback-Schleife stabilisiert werden, und dabei soll eine Bandbreite von über einem MHz erreicht werden, da Rauschen und Schwankungen bei diesen und höheren Frequenzen von den Atomen nicht mehr "wahrgenommen" werden. Es ist bereits möglich eine Stabilisierung der Intensität des Lasers mit einer Bandbreite bis zu ungefähr 100kHz aufzubauen. Dieser Aufbau soll in dieser Arbeit optimiert werden, um Rauschen bis zu mindestens einem MHz zu unterdrücken. Dabei soll hauptsächlich ein geeigneter Verstärker gebaut und so angepasst werden, dass er eine optimale Rauschunterdrückung gewährleistet.
In the Discrete Quantum Simulator (DQSIM) experiment in Bonn it has been planned to study topologically protected transport of atoms along the edges separating distinct topological phases. To realize sharp edges, structured intensity patterns will be used and are to be holographically projected onto the caesium atoms trapped in a two-dimensional (2D) state-dependent optical lattice. A robust technique to reproduce sharp-edged diffracted patterns has been accomplished and is presented in this thesis. This technique is based on a Gerchberg-Saxton-like algorithm, which has overcome the well-known stagnation problem and is able to suppress speckles induced by random phase vortices, and has been further extended to create sharp, diffraction-limited edges in the reconstructed intensity pattern. Computer-generated holograms (CGHs) corresponding to the desired intensity patterns can be calculated with high computational efficiency (∼ 100 iterations) and the intensity patterns can be reconstructed with high fidelity (relative RMS 3.9%).
This thesis describes the theoretical and experimental work for reaching fast, high fidelity transport operations of single cesium atoms in a state-dependent optical lattice. By applying optimal control theory to position and depth of the optical lattice potential and using a computer simulation judging the fidelity, fast transport sequences preserving the internal atomic quantum state and preventing any motional excitation can be identified. To allow transport times down to a few microseconds the feedback control system used for steering depth and position of the optical lattice deterministically is overdriven in a controlled way. Transport induced motional excitations are measured experimentally by means of a special microwave sideband spectroscopy, which is improved to reliably detect any excitation and allows a full tomography of the vibrational states of the anharmonic optical lattice potential. Optimal control sequences allowing single site transport of atoms in the oscillation period of the trapping potential are believed to reach the fundamental quantum speed limit of the system.
In our laboratory, we use cesium atoms, which are trapped in the optical lattices. For the practice of quantum walks, atoms must be well isolated from the noisy environment so that long decoherence time can be achieved. It has been analyzed that fluctuations of the lattice depth originated from intensity fluctuations is one mechanism of decoherence. To suppress the intensity noise of optical lattices, we implement an intensity stabilization control loop based on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) digital platform (Keysight AIO-H3336F). With the advantages of its integratability and flexibility, the application of digital control opens more possibilities for light intensity modulation. In addition to the intensity stabilization, a feedforward control of light intensity becomes feasible with the use of digital signal processing function of FPGA. The realization of intensity feedforward control provides us with a high bandwidth of intensity modulation as well as the conveniences of creating arbitrary intensity ramp implementation. Therefore, it plays an important role in our exploration into the physics related with a time-varying optical trap depth.
Der Ansatz, der in dieser Arbeit verfolgt wird, verwendet einen elektrooptischen Modulator, welcher eine Bandbreite im Bereich von 100 MHz hat. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, eine Intensitätsstabilisierung mit einer Bandbreite von mindestens 10 MHz zu erreichen und die daraus resultierende Verbesserung der Störungsunterdrückung zu demonstrieren. Die nötigen theoretischen Grundlagen sowie die Funktionsweise der Intensitätsstabilisierung mithilfe eines elektrooptischen Modulators werden erarbeitet. Weiterhin werden Aufbauten und Messungen, die zum Erreichen einer hohen Bandbreite erforderlich sind, dargestellt und erklärt.
This master thesis investigates the potential application of a Liquid Crystal on Silicon Spatial Light Modulator for control of the coin flip operation in a two-dimensional quantum walk. First, the phase noise characteristics of two such modulators from different manufacturers are analyzed. Then an optical setup is constructed to perform holography using phase modulation. The evaluation of this setup verifies pattern generation capability and shows further directions for improvement of image quality.
For my master thesis project I have set up, characterized, and tested a new fiber mirror production setup.
All technical elements have been interfaced with the lab computer and can be controlled with the same self-written program. All aspects influencing the ablation parameters and their control have been characterized to enable a predictable ablation sequence, and to identify aspects that require additional optimization.
Furthermore, I have set up an interference microscope to profile the produced ablation crater. In the process, I have implemented, tested, and compared several analysis methods. These routines have been integrated into the control software to enable feedback.
Finally, I have tested the setup on a fused silica substrate and on fiber end facets. From these tests it could be concluded that the setup is working as expected. Additionally, further information on its characteristics and necessary future steps could be gathered.
This thesis describes the development of an optical phase lock loop on a digital platform, in order to realize state-dependent transport on a two-dimensional optical lattice. The digital platform consists of a field programmable gate array in combination of a vector generator module, which is used to steer the amplitude and phase of the optical lattice deterministically. The digital system enables the implementation of a feedforward control scheme based on internal model control, which overcomes the bandwidth limitations of feedback systems. The control bandwidth is shown to be increased by more than an order of magnitude, directly improving the number of coherent operations that can be executed with the atoms in the optical lattice. The system is implemented into the optical setup of the experimental apparatus, and the first signatures of state-dependent transport of atoms in the two-dimensional optical lattice is observed and presented.
The content of this thesis is divided into four parts: In chapter one I will describe the experimental techniques and scientific principles used to realize transport in state-dependent optical lattices in two dimensions. The second chapter is dedicated to introducing the digital device platform and a characterization of its basic properties. In the third chapter I will give an overview of control theory with a focus on the fundamentals of feedback control. In addition, I will explain the implementation of the control loops on the digital system in the second part of the chapter. At the end of this chapter, I will present how an internal model control of the lattice can be implemented on the digital platform. The experimental results on state-dependent transport are presented in the last chapter. Furthermore, I will give an outlook of future milestones of the two-dimensional quantum walk experiment.
Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Untersuchung der Atomfluoreszenzbilder, die im DQSIM - Experiment aufgenommen worden sind. Die Fluoreszenzmikroskopie bzgl. des zweidimensionalen Vielteilchensystems hat eine wichtige Bedeutung für das messungsbasierte Quantenrechnen mit Clusterzuständen. Anhand der Fluoreszenzaufnahmen wird das Abbildungsprinzip erläutert, das Konzept der Punktspreizfunktion (engl. point spread function, kurz PSF) und der Faltung wird eingeführt und deren mathematische Eigenschaften werden vorgestellt. Durch die Analyse der PSF wird die reale numerische Apertur (kurz NA) zusammen mit dem Strehl-Verhältnis (engl. Strehl ratio) untersucht. Die Anwendung der Zernike-Polynome wird ebenso einen Einblick in die Analyse der optischen Aberrationen eines Abbildungssystems anbieten.
This thesis deals with the design and construction of a versatile digital frequency synthesizer for implementation in the state-dependent transport of Cesium atoms. The versatile digital frequency synthesizer consists of a field programmable gate array interfaced with a low noise direct digital synthesizer that will be used for amplitude, phase and frequency modulation. The versatile digital frequency synthesizer provides better flexibility, for generating arbitrary waveforms, and lower phase noise than the previous setup. The measured reduction in phase noise of around 20dB corresponds to an increase in the lifetime of atoms by two orders of magnitude. This improved phase noise specification with the ability to generate arbitrary waveforms opens up possibilities for transporting atoms over macroscopic distances and eventually realizing an atom interferometer with a large space-time area.
Den Polarisationszustand elektromagnetischer Strahlung zu kennen, und kontrollieren zu können, ist in der modernen Physik von großer Wichtigkeit. Beispielsweise braucht man zum Laserkühlen von Atomen eine klar definierte Polarisation. Ziel dieser Bachelorarbeit ist es ein Polarimeter aufzubauen, welches die Polarisation eines einfallenden Laserstrahls misst und Auskunft darüber zu geben, wie genau es Polarisationen messen kann. Ferner sollen die wichtigsten systematischen Messfehler untersucht und charakterisiert werden.
Ein Stokes-Polarimeter wurde erfolgreich aufgebaut und getestet. Es wurde gezeigt, dass die Genauigkeit des Polarimeters von der Polarisation abhängig ist, wobei es zirkulare Polarisation besser als auf 0.5% genau messen kann. Über die Möglichkeit, die zirkulare Polarisation genauer zu messen, lässt sich nichts aussagen, da die Polarisation nicht genauer eingestellt werden konnte. Die Güte der Messung der linearen Polarisation wird am stärksten durch die genaue Kenntnis des Winkels zwischen schneller Achse der QWP und der Polarisationsachse des Analysators bestimmt. Mit der Kenntnis dieses Winkels auf 0.2º genau ist es auch möglich, lineare Polarisation mit 1% Genauigkeit zu messen. Eine Ausnahme stellt hier die horizontale Polarisation dar, bei der eine Abweichung von 5% von den erwarteten Werten beobachtet wurde. Mögliche Ursachen hierfür sind eine geringere Verzögerung der QWP und ein Offset der Intensitätsmessung, der weiter untersucht werden muss. Ferner wurde Wave-Plate-Ripple als eine weitere Fehlerquelle identifiziert und eine qualitative Abschätzung seiner Einflüsse gegeben.
This master thesis contains two major parts. On the theoretical side simulating the state-dependent transport of neutral caesium atoms in a two-dimensional optical lattice gives an intuitive picture of the state-dependent potential during transport. The more practical part deals with the task to load the atoms into the lattice since they cannot be trapped directly in the plane of the experiment. A magneto-optical trap in a distance of about ∼2 mm below the lattice traps atoms out of the vacuum background and lift them afterwards into the lattice. This is realised using a precise electronic control of the imbalance of current guided through the two coils for building up the required quadrupole field by diverting a certain amount of current around one coil. Analysis of the step-response signal of the used metal band coils yields mandatory characteristics for achieving a fast and stable control. A galvanic isolated signal transfer protects the computer control against damage due to accidental voltage pulses from the high-power system. The diverted current can change with ∼0.9 A ms−1.
This work reports on the implementation of feedback methods for position control of single Cesium atoms in spin-dependent optical lattices. For this purpose a new control software has been developed. It encapsulates experimental control, fluorescence image acquisition and analysis into a single program. Combining the new software with spin-dependent transport and position-dependent addressing, we have developed a versatile feedback algorithm to deterministically arrange arbitrary patterns of up to 6 atoms. In addition, we have prepared two atoms in a common lattice site. We observed light-assisted collisions between both atoms and thereby characterized the preparation effciency of 83 ± 4 %. The results pave the way for the study of controlled interactions between precisely two atoms in a single well of the optical lattice potential, enabling the realization of a fundamental quantum logic gate.
This master-thesis investigates a new approach for state-dependent transport of atoms in an optical lattice. It is based on a direct synthesis of light polarization by superimposing two circular polarized beams and employing RF sources integrated with acousto-optic modulators for phase control. An interferometrically stable phase between the two beams is achieved by locking them actively with a heterodyne technique. The influence of polarization crosstalk and erroneous components on the optical lattice and the phase locked loop are investigated and the quality of the phase locked loop is analyzed.
Compared to conventional methods [25] the direct synthesis method avoids the need of an electro-optic modulator, where rotations on the Poincare sphere are limited by the applicable voltage and restrictions on manufacturing and crystal quality exist. Overcoming these limitations it is expected to reach higher polarization purity and larger shift distances in the new design.
The present thesis is divided into three parts: Chapter one gives a brief theoretical introduction followed by a short description of the existing experimental setup. Subsequently, the implementation and characterization of the strongly focused dipole trap is presented. The chapter closes with an introduction of the heterodyne detection setup. Chapter two highlights theoretical aspects of heterodyne detection, emphasizing the estimation of the expected signal-to-noise ratio in comparison to the measurements. Finally, chapter three deals with heterodyne spectroscopy as a tool to map intracavity dynamics to frequency domain. At first a short theoretical introduction into cooling of the motional degree of freedom of a trapped atom in a cavity is given. First measurements of motional sidebands are presented and possible broadening mechanisms are discussed in detail. Eventually, the extracted temperature and cooling rate is compared to theoretical expectations.
The experimental realisation of electric quantum walks, i.e. quantum walks that are subject to a force, is presented with individual caesium atoms. Hereby, the behaviour of a charged quantum particle in a static electric eld is simulated in a time as well as space discrete system. Building on previous achievements [1], the demonstration of ordinary quantum walks of up to 100 steps is shown. Further thorough theoretical studies expose the underlying simulator properties of such a quantum walk system experiencing a force. Similarities to the continuous time analogue as well as characteristic features that are indebted to the discrete evolution of the system are presented. The implementation of a direct digital synthesizer allows the experimental application of discrete forces in the system by employing frequency ramps, and thus leads to the realisation of electric walks. Results are given for selected force parameters, showing the phenomenon of Bloch oscillations. Additionally, pure ballistic transport of the electric quantum walk due to strong Landau-Zener tunnelling in the strong force regime is demonstrated.
So called optical microfibers (OMFs) with diameters on the order of one micrometer have attracted much attention during the last years. This results from the optical properties of the OMFs. Due to the small cross section of the OMF about 50% of power guided trough it propagates outside the physical boundary of the OMF. The portion of light guided by the fiber but propagating in the surrounding medium is referred to as the evanescent field. This field can be accessed rather easily for experiments and offers high light intensity because of the strong spacial confinement. This thesis work lays the foundations for the on-demand fabrication of OMFs of any shape and with various optical properties. The scope of this work covers among others the design of an advanced mechanical setup, the corresponding calculations on fabrication of OMFs, and the analysis and verification of the properties of the resulting OMFs.
The demand for fiber cavities for studying light matter interaction increased in the recent years. The ablation setup in Paris is used as a basic tool for fabricating fiber mirrors by ablating material on a fiber end facet with a CO2 laser. In this work we improved the controllability and the efficiency of the setup. A better quality of the CO2 laser beam was achieved by the minimisation of the astigmatism caused be the dichroic mirror. This enables the adjustment of a certain beam radius by moving the fiber end facet along the beam direction. Based on the experiences in Paris, we built up an improved ablation setup in Bonn. The dichroic mirror and the microscope are substituted by a new alignment method of the fiber end facet. A 1550nm laser is overlapped with the CO2 laser beam and coupled into the fiber. By the amount of light coupled into the fiber, the position of the fiber is determined. As a new approch, a Michelson profilometer is implemented into the setup to determine the structure profiles on the fiber end facet. All electrical components in the ablation setup are controlled centrally with a MBED microcontroller which will enable an automated alignment of the fiber and ablation process in the future. In a further experiment, the properties of a fiber cavity are investigated in Paris. Elliptically polarized light at a wavelength of 900nm is coupled into the cavity and from the transmission signal as well as the camera pictures, the free spectral range, the finesse and the spectral width is determined. From this, the reflectivity of the mirrors, the mode waist and the cavity field decay rate are roughly estimated. Especially the birefringence of the mirror coating was also investigated in this measurement and is observed as a resonance splitting in the transmission signal.