Efficient collisional blockade loading of a single atom into a tight microtrap
We show that controlled inelastic collisions can improve the single atom loading efficiency in the collisional blockade regime of optical microtraps. A collisional loss process where only one of the colliding atoms is lost, implemented during loading, enables us to kick out one of the atoms as soon...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2015-01-01
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| Series: | New Journal of Physics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/7/073011 |
| _version_ | 1797751149006159872 |
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| author | Y H Fung M F Andersen |
| author_facet | Y H Fung M F Andersen |
| author_sort | Y H Fung |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We show that controlled inelastic collisions can improve the single atom loading efficiency in the collisional blockade regime of optical microtraps. A collisional loss process where only one of the colliding atoms is lost, implemented during loading, enables us to kick out one of the atoms as soon as a second atom enters the optical microtrap. When this happens faster than the pair loss, which has limited the loading efficiency of previous experiments to about 50%, we experimentally observe an enhancement to 80%. A simple analytical theory predicts the loading dynamics. Our results open up an efficient and fast route for loading individual atoms into optical tweezers and arrays of microtraps that are too tight for easy implementation of the method reported in [ 1 , 2 ]. The loading of tight traps with single atoms is a requirement for their applications in future experiments in quantum information processing and few-body physics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:43:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2d9da05be29643f6a167fa962a18bc5e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1367-2630 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:43:15Z |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | New Journal of Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-2d9da05be29643f6a167fa962a18bc5e2023-08-08T14:20:10ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302015-01-0117707301110.1088/1367-2630/17/7/073011Efficient collisional blockade loading of a single atom into a tight microtrapY H Fung0M F Andersen1Dodd-Walls Centre, Department of Physics, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9016, New ZealandDodd-Walls Centre, Department of Physics, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9016, New ZealandWe show that controlled inelastic collisions can improve the single atom loading efficiency in the collisional blockade regime of optical microtraps. A collisional loss process where only one of the colliding atoms is lost, implemented during loading, enables us to kick out one of the atoms as soon as a second atom enters the optical microtrap. When this happens faster than the pair loss, which has limited the loading efficiency of previous experiments to about 50%, we experimentally observe an enhancement to 80%. A simple analytical theory predicts the loading dynamics. Our results open up an efficient and fast route for loading individual atoms into optical tweezers and arrays of microtraps that are too tight for easy implementation of the method reported in [ 1 , 2 ]. The loading of tight traps with single atoms is a requirement for their applications in future experiments in quantum information processing and few-body physics.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/7/073011single atomslight-assisted collisionscollisional blockadeoptical microtrapsquantum information processing |
| spellingShingle | Y H Fung M F Andersen Efficient collisional blockade loading of a single atom into a tight microtrap New Journal of Physics single atoms light-assisted collisions collisional blockade optical microtraps quantum information processing |
| title | Efficient collisional blockade loading of a single atom into a tight microtrap |
| title_full | Efficient collisional blockade loading of a single atom into a tight microtrap |
| title_fullStr | Efficient collisional blockade loading of a single atom into a tight microtrap |
| title_full_unstemmed | Efficient collisional blockade loading of a single atom into a tight microtrap |
| title_short | Efficient collisional blockade loading of a single atom into a tight microtrap |
| title_sort | efficient collisional blockade loading of a single atom into a tight microtrap |
| topic | single atoms light-assisted collisions collisional blockade optical microtraps quantum information processing |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/7/073011 |
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