We review our recent experimental progress in quantum technology employing amplification effect of four-wave mixing in a rubidium vapor. We have produced an intensity difference squeezed light source at frequencies as low as 1.5 kHz which is so far the lowest frequency at which squeezing has been observed in an atomic system. Moreover, we find that the bandwidth of our squeezed light source can be controlled with light intensity pumping. Using our non-classical light source, we have further developed a nonlinear Mach-Zehnder (MZ) interferometer, for which the maximum fringe intensity depends quadratically on the intensity of the phase-sensing field at the high-gain regime, leading to much better sensitivity than a linear MZ interferometer in which the beam splitters have the same phase-sensing intensity. The quantum technologies developed by our group could have great potential in areas such as precision measurement and quantum information.
We propose a controllable high-efficiency electrostatic surface trap for cold polar molecules on a chip by using two insulator-embedded charged rings and a grounded conductor plate. We calculate Stark energy structure pattern of ND3 molecules in an external electric field using the method of matrix diagonalization. We analyze how the voltages that are applied to the ring electrodes affect the depth of the efficient well and the controllability of the distance between the trap center and the surface of the chip. To obtain a better understanding, we simulate the dynamical loading and trapping processes of ND3 molecules in a |J, KM = |1,-1 state by using classical Monte–Carlo method. Our study shows that the loading efficiency of our trap can reach ～ 88%. Finally, we study the adiabatic cooling of cold molecules in our surface trap by linearly lowering the potential-well depth(i.e., lowering the trapping voltage), and find that the temperature of the trapped ND3 molecules can be adiabatically cooled from 34.5 m K to ～ 5.8 m K when the trapping voltage is reduced from-35 k V to-3 k V.
We demonstrate the production of cold, slow NH_3 molecules from a supersonic NH_3 molecular beam using our electrostatic Stark decelerator consisting of 179 slowing stages. By using this long Stark decelerator, a supersonic NH_3 molecular beam can be easily decelerated to trappable velocities. Here we present two modes for operating the Stark decelerator to slow the supersonic NH_3 molecules. The first is the normal mode, where all 179 stages are used to decelerate molecules, and it allows decelerating the NH_3 molecular beam from 333 m/s to 18 m/s, with a final temperature of 29.2 mK.The second is the deceleration-bunch mode, which allows us to decelerate the supersonic NH_3 beam from 333 m/s to 24 m/s,with a final temperature of 2.9 m K. It is clear that the second mode promises to produce colder(high-energy-resolution)molecular samples than the normal mode. Three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations are also performed for the experiments and they show a good agreement with the observed results. The deceleration-bunch operation mode presented here can find applications in the fields of cold collisions, high-resolution spectroscopy, and precision measurements.
In order to realize electrostatic Stark deceleration of CH radicals and study cold chemistry, the fifth harmonic of a YAG laser is used to prepare CH(A2△) molecules through using the multi-photon dissociation of(CH3)2CO, CH3NO2, CH2Br2,and CHBr3 at ～ 213 nm. The CH product intensity is measured by using the emission spectrum of CH(A2△→ X2Π). The dependence of fluorescence intensity on laser power is studied, and the probable dissociation channels are analyzed. The relationship between the fluorescence intensity and some parameters, such as the temperature of the beam source, stagnation pressure, and the time delay between the opening of pulse valve and the photolysis laser, are also studied. The influence of three different carrier gases on CH signal intensity is investigated. The vibrational and rotational temperatures of the CH(A2△) product are obtained by comparing experimental data with the simulated ones from the LIFBASE program.
A novel scheme for guiding arbitrary buffer-gas cooled neutral molecules in a hollow optical fiber(HOF) using a red-detuned HE 11 mode is proposed and analysed theoretically.We give the electromagnetic field distribution of the HE 11 mode in the HOF and calculate the optical potential of an I 2 molecule,and study the molecule guiding mechanism using a classical Monte Carlo simulation.Using a 6 kW input laser,an S-shape HOF with a 2 cm curvature radius for both bends,and an input molecular beam with a transverse temperature of 0.5 K and longitudinal temperature of 5 K,we obtain a guiding efficiency of ～0.126% for the scheme,and the transverse and longitudinal temperatures of the guided molecular beam are 1.9 mK and 0.5 K,respectively.
Two novel electrostatic traps named octopole-based disk electrostatic trap(ODET)and tubular-based disk electrostatic trap(TDET)are proposed for trapping cold polar molecules in low-field-seeking states.Using MgF as the target molecule,single loading and multi-loading methods are numerically simulated with varied incident velocities of slow molecular beams in the two types of traps,respectively.In ODET,with an incident velocity of 10 m/s,a highest loading efficiency of 78.4% or 99.9% has been achieved under the single loading or multi-loading operation mode.In TDET,with an incident velocity of 11 m/s,a highest loading efficiency of 81.6% or 106.5% has been achieved using the two loading methods,respectively.With such high loading efficiencies,the trapped cold molecules can be applied in the researches of cold collisions,high precision spectroscopy,and precision measurements.Especially,together with a blue-detuned hollow beam,the new electrostatic traps proposed here offer a new platform for the following gradient-intensity cooling of MgF molecules,which may provide a new way to produce high density ultracold molecules.
