No Arabic abstract
We study semiconductor excitons confined in an electrostatic trap of a GaAs bilayer heterostructure. We evidence that optically bright excitonic states are strongly depleted while cooling to sub-Kelvin temperatures. In return, the other accessible and optically dark states become macroscopically occupied so that the overall exciton population in the trap is conserved. These combined behaviours constitute the spectroscopic signature for the mostly dark Bose-Einstein condensation of excitons, which in our experiments is restricted to a dilute regime within a narrow range of densities, below a critical temperature of about 1K.
We study the time coherence of the photoluminescence radiated by spatially indirect excitons confined in a 10 $mu$m electrostatic trap. Above a critical temperature of 1 Kelvin, we show that the photoluminescence has a homogeneous spectral width of about 500 $mu$eV which weakly varies with the exciton density. By contrast, the spectral width reduces by two-fold below the critical temperature and for experimental parameters at which excitons undergo a gray Bose-Einstein condensation. In this regime, we find evidence showing that the excitons temporal coherence is limited by their interaction with a low-concentration of residual excess charges, leading to a minimum photoluminescence spectral width of around 300 $mu$eV.
We calculate the spatially resolved optical emission spectrum of a weakly interacting Bose gas of excitons confined in a three dimensional potential trap due to interband transitions involving weak direct and phonon mediated exciton-photon interactions. Applying the local density approximation, we show that for a non-condensed system the spatio-spectral lineshape of the direct process reflects directly the shape of the potential. The existence of a Bose-Einstein condensate changes the spectrum in a characteristic way so that it directly reflects the constant chemical potential of the excitons and the renormalization of the quasiparticle excitation spectrum. Typical examples are given for parameters of the lowest yellow excitons in cuprous oxide.
Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) are macroscopic coherent matter waves that have revolutionized quantum science and atomic physics. They are essential to quantum simulation and sensing, for example underlying atom interferometers in space and ambitious tests of Einsteins equivalence principle. The key to dramatically increasing the bandwidth and precision of such matter-wave sensors lies in sustaining a coherent matter wave indefinitely. Here we demonstrate continuous Bose-Einstein condensation by creating a continuous-wave (CW) condensate of strontium atoms that lasts indefinitely. The coherent matter wave is sustained by amplification through Bose-stimulated gain of atoms from a thermal bath. By steadily replenishing this bath while achieving 1000x higher phase-space densities than previous works, we maintain the conditions for condensation. This advance overcomes a fundamental limitation of all atomic quantum gas experiments to date: the need to execute several cooling stages time-sequentially. Continuous matter-wave amplification will make possible CW atom lasers, atomic counterparts of CW optical lasers that have become ubiquitous in technology and society. The coherence of such atom lasers will no longer be fundamentally limited by the atom number in a BEC and can ultimately reach the standard quantum limit. Our development provides a new, hitherto missing piece of atom optics, enabling the construction of continuous coherent matter-wave devices. From infrasound gravitational wave detectors to optical clocks, the dramatic improvement in coherence, bandwidth and precision now within reach will be decisive in the creation of a new class of quantum sensors.
We present theoretical studies of condensation of indirect excitons in a trap. Our model quantifies the effect of screening of the trap potential by indirect excitons on exciton condensation. The theoretical studies are applied to a system of indirect excitons in a GaAs/AlGaAs coupled quantum well structure in a diamond-shaped electrostatic trap where exciton condensation was studied in earlier experiments. The estimated condensation temperature of the indirect excitons in the trap reaches hundreds of milliKelvin.
We report on the attainment of Bose-Einstein condensation with ultracold strontium atoms. We use the 84Sr isotope, which has a low natural abundance but offers excellent scattering properties for evaporative cooling. Accumulation in a metastable state using a magnetic-trap, narrowline cooling, and straightforward evaporative cooling in an optical trap lead to pure condensates containing 1.5x10^5 atoms. This puts 84Sr in a prime position for future experiments on quantum-degenerate gases involving atomic two-electron systems.