Observation of ultracold atomic bubbles in orbital microgravity.

Substantial leaps in the understanding of quantum systems have been driven by exploring geometry, topology, dimensionality and interactions in ultracold atomic ensembles1-6. A system where atoms evolve while confined on an ellipsoidal surface represents a heretofore unexplored geometry and topology. Realizing an ultracold bubble-potentially Bose-Einstein condensed-relates to areas of interest including quantized-vortex flow constrained to a closed surface topology, collective modes and self-interference via bubble expansion7-17. Large ultracold bubbles, created by inflating smaller condensates, directly tie into Hubble-analogue expansion physics18-20. Here we report observations from the NASA Cold Atom Lab21 facility onboard the International Space Station of bubbles of ultracold atoms created using a radiofrequency-dressing protocol. We observe bubble configurations of varying size and initial temperature, and explore bubble thermodynamics, demonstrating substantial cooling associated with inflation. We achieve partial coverings of bubble traps greater than one millimetre in size with ultracold films of inferred few-micrometre thickness, and we observe the dynamics of shell structures projected into free-evolving harmonic confinement. The observations are among the first measurements made with ultracold atoms in space, using perpetual freefall to explore quantum systems that are prohibitively difficult to create on Earth. This work heralds future studies (in orbital microgravity) of the Bose-Einstein condensed bubble, the character of its excitations and the role of topology in its evolution.

Shell potentials for microgravity Bose-Einstein condensates.

Extending the understanding of Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) physics to new geometries and topologies has a long and varied history in ultracold atomic physics. One such new geometry is that of a bubble, where a condensate would be confined to the surface of an ellipsoidal shell. Study of this geometry would give insight into new collective modes, self-interference effects, topology-dependent vortex behavior, dimensionality crossovers from thick to thin shells, and the properties of condensates pushed into the ultradilute limit. Here we propose to implement a realistic experimental framework for generating shell-geometry BEC using radiofrequency dressing of magnetically trapped samples. Such a tantalizing state of matter is inaccessible terrestrially due to the distorting effect of gravity on experimentally feasible shell potentials. The debut of an orbital BEC machine (NASA Cold Atom Laboratory, aboard the International Space Station) has enabled the operation of quantum-gas experiments in a regime of perpetual freefall, and thus has permitted the planning of microgravity shell-geometry BEC experiments. We discuss specific experimental configurations, applicable inhomogeneities and other experimental challenges, and outline potential experiments.

Synthetic clock transitions via continuous dynamical decoupling.

Decoherence of quantum systems due to uncontrolled fluctuations of the environment presents fundamental obstacles in quantum science. Clock transitions which are insensitive to such fluctuations are used to improve coherence, however, they are not present in all systems or for arbitrary system parameters. Here we create a trio of synthetic clock transitions using continuous dynamical decoupling in a spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate in which we observe a reduction of sensitivity to magnetic-field noise of up to four orders of magnitude; this work complements the parallel work by Anderson et al.. In addition, using a concatenated scheme, we demonstrate suppression of sensitivity to fluctuations in our control fields. These field-insensitive states represent an ideal foundation for the next generation of cold-atom experiments focused on fragile many-body phases relevant to quantum magnetism, artificial gauge fields, and topological matter.

Differential light-shift cancellation in a magnetic-field-insensitive transition of 87rb.

The precise measurement of transition frequencies of trapped atomic samples is susceptible to inaccuracy arising from the inhomogeneous differential shift of the relevant energy levels in the presence of the trapping fields. We demonstrate near-complete cancellation of the differential ac Stark shift ("light shift") of a two-photon magnetic-field-insensitive microwave hyperfine (clock) transition in ^{87}Rb atoms trapped in an optical lattice. Up to 95(2)% of the differential light shift is cancelled while maintaining magnetic-field insensitivity. This technique should have applications in quantum information and frequency metrology.

Atoms in a radio-frequency-dressed optical lattice.

We load cold atoms into an optical lattice dramatically reshaped by radio-frequency coupling of state-dependent lattice potentials. This radio-frequency dressing changes the unit cell of the lattice at a subwavelength scale, such that its curvature and topology departs strongly from that of a simple sinusoidal lattice potential. Radio-frequency dressing has previously been performed at length scales from mm to tens of mum, but not at the single-optical-wavelength scale. At this length scale significant coupling between adiabatic potentials leads to nonadiabatic transitions, which we measure as a function of lattice depth and dressing amplitude. We also investigate the dressing by measuring changes in the momentum distribution of the dressed states.

Spinor dynamics-driven formation of a dual-beam atom laser.

We demonstrate a novel dual-beam atom laser formed by outcoupling oppositely polarized components of an all-optical F = 1 spinor Bose-Einstein condensate whose Zeeman sublevel populations have been coherently evolved through spin dynamics. The condensate is formed through all-optical means using a single-beam running-wave dipole trap. We create a condensate in the magnetic field-insensitive m(F) = 0 state, and drive coherent spin-mixing evolution through adiabatic compression of the initially weak trap. Such dual beams, number-correlated through the angular momentum-conserving reaction 2m(0) ?m(+1) +m(-1), have been proposed as tools to explore entanglement and squeezing in Bose-Einstein condensates, and have potential use in precision phase measurements.

High power single frequency 780nm laser source generated from frequency doubling of a seeded fiber amplifier in a cascade of PPLN crystals.

We report on the generation of over 900 mW of tunable cw light at 780 nm by single pass frequency doubling of a high power fiber amplifier in a cascade of two periodically poled Lithium Niobate (PPLN) crystals. Over 500 mW is generated in the first crystal. In the limit of low pump power, we observe an efficiency of 4.6 mW/W2-cm for a single crystal, and 5.6 mW/W2-cm for a combination of two crystals, with an enhancement of the doubling efficiency observed with two crystals due to the presence of second harmonic light from the first crystal acting as a seed for the second. We have frequency locked this laser source relative to a rubidium D2 hyperfine line and demonstrated its utility in a sophisticated laser cooling apparatus.