Atomic-state diagnostics and optimization in cold-atom experiments

Abstract

We report on the creation, observation and optimization of superposition states of cold atoms. In our experiments, rubidium atoms are prepared in a magneto-optical trap and later, after switching off the trapping fields, Faraday rotation of a weak probe beam is used to characterize atomic states prepared by application of appropriate light pulses and external magnetic fields. We discuss the signatures of polarization and alignment of atomic spin states and identify main factors responsible for deterioration of the atomic number and their coherence and present means for their optimization, like relaxation in the dark with the strobe probing. These results may be used for controlled preparation of cold atom samples and in situ magnetometry of static and transient fields

15 pages and 9 figures (including supplementary information)

References in corpus (5)

• Atom Interferometers
• Theory of double resonance magnetometers based on atomic alignment
• Nonlinear magneto-optical rotation with modulated light in tilted magnetic fields
• Achieving very long lifetimes in optical lattices with pulsed cooling
• Orientational Effects on the Amplitude and Phase of Polarimeter Signals in Double Resonance Atomic Magnetometry

Cited by in corpus (6)

• A Cold Atom Radio-Frequency Magnetometer
• Production of large Bose-Einstein condensates in a magnetic-shield-compatible hybrid trap
• Limitations of rotating-wave approximation in magnetic resonance: Characterization and elimination of the Bloch-Siegert shift in magneto-optics
• Single-shot Stern-Gerlach magnetic gradiometer with an expanding cloud of cold cesium atoms
• Optical reconstruction of collective density matrix of qutrit
• Tailored optical properties of atomic medium by a narrow bandwidth frequency comb