Thomas Vanderbruggen

Robust laser frequency stabilization by serrodyne modulation

We report the relative frequency stabilization of a distributed feedback erbium-doped fiber laser on an optical cavity by serrodyne frequency shifting. A correction bandwidth of 2.3 MHz and a dynamic range of 220 MHz are achieved, which leads to a strong robustness against large disturbances up to high frequencies. We demonstrate that serrodyne frequency shifting reaches a higher correction bandwidth and lower relative frequency noise level compared to a standard acousto-optical modulator based scheme. Our results allow us to consider promising applications in the absolute frequency stabilization of lasers on optical cavities.

Heterodyne non-demolition measurements on cold atomic samples: towards the preparation of non-classical states for atom interferometry

We report on a novel experiment to generate non-classical atomic states via quantum non-demolition (QND) measurements on cold atomic samples prepared in a high-finesse ring cavity. The heterodyne technique developed for QND detection exhibits an optical shot-noise limited behavior for local oscillator optical power of a few hundred μW, and a detection bandwidth of several GHz. This detection tool is used in a single pass to follow non-destructively the internal state evolution of an atomic sample when subjected to Rabi oscillations or a spin-echo interferometric sequence.

Spin-squeezing and Dicke state preparation by heterodyne measurement

We investigate the quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement of an atomic population based on a heterodyne detection and show that the induced back-action allows to prepare both spin-squeezed and Dicke states. We use a wavevector formalism to describe the stochastic process of the measurement and the associated atomic evolution. Analytical formulas of the atomic distribution momenta are derived in the weak coupling regime both for short and long time behavior, and they are in good agreement with those obtained by a Monte-Carlo simulation. The experimental implementation of the proposed heterodyne detection scheme is discussed. The role played in the squeezing process by the spontaneous emission is considered.

In situ characterization of an optical cavity using atomic light shift

We report the precise characterization of the optical potential obtained by injecting a distributed-feedback erbium-doped fiber laser at 1560 nm to the transverse modes of a folded optical cavity. The optical potential was mapped in situ using cold rubidium atoms, whose potential energy was spectrally resolved thanks to the strong differential light shift induced by the 1560 nm laser on the two levels of the probe transition. The optical potential obtained in the cavity is suitable for trapping rubidium atoms and eventually to achieve all-optical Bose-Einstein condensation directly in the resonator.

Spontaneous

We consider the interaction of a ferromagnetic spinor Bose-Einstein condensate with a magnetic-field gradient. The magnetic-field gradient realizes a spin-position coupling that explicitly breaks time-reversal symmetry and space parity , but preserves the combined symmetry. We observe, using numerical simulations, a phase transition spontaneously breaking this remaining symmetry. The transition to a low-gradient phase, in which gradient effects are frozen out by the ferromagnetic interaction, suggests the possibility of high-coherence magnetic sensors unaffected by gradient dephasing.

\mathcal{PT}

We propose a method to generate a source of spin-polarized cold atoms which are continuously extracted and guided from a magneto-optical trap using an atom-diode effect. We show that it is possible to create a pipe-like potential by overlapping two optical beams coupled with the two transitions of a three-level system in a ladder configuration. With alkali-metal atoms, and in particular with

symmetry breaking of a ferromagnetic superfluid in a gradient field

^{87}

Near-resonant optical forces beyond the two-level approximation for a continuous source of spin-polarized cold atoms

Rb, a proper choice of transitions enables both the potential generation and optical pumping, thus polarizing the sample in a given Zeeman state. We extend the Dalibard and Cohen-Tannoudji dressed-atom model of radiative forces to the case of a three-level system. We derive expressions for the average force and the different sources of momentum diffusion in the resonant, non-perturbative regime. We show using numerical simulations that a significant fraction of the atoms initially loaded can be guided over several centimeters with output velocities of a few meters per second. This would produce a collimated continuous source of slow spin-polarized atoms suitable for atom interferometry.

Multi-second magnetic coherence in a single domain spinor Bose–Einstein condensate

We describe a compact, robust and versatile system for studying magnetic dynamics in a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate. Condensates of 87 Rb are produced by all-optical evaporation in a 1560 nm optical dipole trap, using a non-standard loading sequence that employs an auxiliary 1529 nm beam for partial compensation of the strong differential light shift induced by the dipole trap itself. We use near-resonance Faraday rotation probing to non-destructively track the condensate magnetization, and demonstrate few-Larmor-cycle tracking with no detectable degradation of the spin polarization. In the ferromagnetic F = 1 ground state, we observe magnetic T1 and T2

Floquet theory for atomic light-shift engineering with near-resonant polychromatic fields

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