No Arabic abstract
We describe the construction of a fast field cycling device capable of sweeping a 4-order-of-magnitude range of magnetic fields, from ~1mT to 7T, in under 700ms. Central to this system is a high-speed sample shuttling mechanism between a superconducting magnet and a magnetic shield, with the capability to access arbitrary fields in between with high resolution. Our instrument serves as a versatile platform to harness the inherent dichotomy of spin dynamics on offer at low and high fields - in particular, the low anisotropy, fast spin manipulation, and rapid entanglement growth at low field as well as the long spin lifetimes, spin specific control, and efficient inductive measurement possible at high fields. Exploiting these complementary capabilities in a single device open up applications in a host of problems in quantum control, sensing, and information storage, besides in nuclear hypepolarization, relaxometry and imaging. In particular, in this paper, we focus on the ability of the device to enable low-field hyperpolarization of 13C nuclei in diamond via optically pumped electronic spins associated with Nitrogen Vacancy (NV) defect centers.
Well controlled and highly stable magnetic fields are desired for a wide range of applications in physical research, including quantum metrology, sensing, information processing, and simulation. Here we introduce a low-cost hybrid assembly of rare-earth magnets and magnetic field coils to generate a field strength of $simeq,10.9,$mT with a spatial variation of less than 10$^{-6}$ within a diameter of spherical volume of $150,$um. We characterise its tuneability and stability performance using a single Mg$^{+}$ atom confined in a radio-frequency surface-electrode trap under ultra-high vacuum conditions. The strength of the field can be tuned with a relative precision of $leq 2,times,10^{-5}$ and we find a passive temporal stability of our setup of better than $1.0,times,10^{-4}$ over the course of one hour. Slow drifts on time scales of a few minutes are actively stabilised by adjusting electric currents in the magnetic field coils. In this way, we observe coherence times of electronic superposition states of greater than six seconds using a first-order field insensitive (clock) transition. In a first application, we demonstrate sensing of magnetic fields with amplitudes of $geq0.2,$uT oscillating at $simeq 2pi,times,60,$MHz. Our approach can be implemented in compact and robust applications with strict power and load requirements.
We implement arbitrary maps between pure states in the 16-dimensional Hilbert space associated with the ground electronic manifold of Cs. This is accomplished by driving atoms with phase modulated rf and {mu}w fields, using modulation waveforms found via numerical optimization and designed to work robustly in the presence of imperfections. We evaluate the performance of a sample of randomly chosen state maps by randomized benchmarking, obtaining an average fidelity >99%. Our protocol advances state-of-the-art quantum control and has immediate applications in quantum metrology and tomography.
Intense-field ionization of the hydrogen molecular ion by linearly-polarized light is modelled by direct solution of the fixed-nuclei time-dependent Schrodinger equation and compared with recent experiments. Parallel transitions are calculated using algorithms which exploit massively parallel computers. We identify and calculate dynamic tunnelling ionization resonances that depend on laser wavelength and intensity, and molecular bond length. Results for $lambda sim 1064$ nm are consistent with static tunnelling ionization. At shorter wavelengths $lambda sim 790 $ nm large dynamic corrections are observed. The results agree very well with recent experimental measurements of the ion spectra. Our results reproduce the single peak resonance and provide accurate ionization rate estimates at high intensities. At lower intensities our results confirm a double peak in the ionization rate as the bond length varies.
High-harmonic generation in two-colour ($omega-2omega$) counter-rotating circularly polarised laser fields opens the path to generate isolated attosecond pulses and attosecond pulse trains with controlled ellipticity. The generated harmonics have alternating helicity, and the ellipticity of the generated attosecond pulse depends sensitively on the relative intensities of two adjacent, counter-rotating harmonic lines. For the $s$-type ground state, such as in Helium, the successive harmonics have nearly equal amplitude, yielding isolated attosecond pulses and attosecond pulse trains with linear polarisation, rotated by 120$^{{circ}}$ from pulse to pulse. In this work, we suggest a solution to overcome the limitation associated with the $s$-type ground state. It is based on modifying the three propensity rules associated with the three steps of the harmonic generation process: ionisation, propagation, and recombination. We control the first step by seeding high harmonic generation with XUV light tuned well below the ionisation threshold, which generates virtual excitations with the angular momentum co-rotating with the $omega$-field. We control the propagation step by increasing the intensity of the $omega$-field relative to the $2omega$-field, further enhancing the chance of the $omega$-field being absorbed versus the $2omega$-field, thus favouring the emission co-rotating with the seed and the $omega-$field. We demonstrate our proposed control scheme using Helium atom as a target and solving time-dependent Schr{o}dinger equation in two and three-dimensions.
A time orbiting potential trap confines neutral atoms in a rotating magnetic field. The rotation of the field can be useful for precision measurements, since it can average out some systematic effects. However, the field is more difficult to characterize than a static field, and it makes light applied to the atoms have a time-varying optical polarization relative to the quantization axis. These problems can be overcome using stroboscopic techniques, where either a radio-frequency field or a laser is applied in pulses that are synchronized to the rotating field. Using these methods, the magnetic field can be characterized with a precision of 10 mG and light can be applied with a polarization error of $5times 10^{-5}$.