arXiv subjects

Christian T. Schmiegelow

Publications and source records attributed to Christian T. Schmiegelow.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Spin-selective coherent light scattering from ion crystals

We study coherent light scattering from linear crystals with up to twelve $^{40}\text{Ca}^+$ ions, acting as single photon emitters. Light-scattering is induced by two-photon laser excitation, starting from the S$_{1/2}\rightarrow$ D$_{5/2}$ quadrupole transition at 729~nm followed by the D$_{5/2}\rightarrow$ P$_{3/2}$ dipole transition at 854~nm, from where the ions decay back to the S$_{1/2}$ ground state via emission of a photon near 393~nm. We realize spin-selective excitation from the Zeeman-split ground states S$_{1/2}$, m$= \pm 1/2$, of the $\text{Ca}^+$ ions and observe in the far field spin-dependent interference patterns displaying the spin textures of the ion crystals. We investigate their dynamics by measuring the temporal evolution of the spatial Fourier frequencies of the observed patterns.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2024

Trapped atoms in spatially-structured vector light fields

Spatially-structured laser beams, eventually carrying orbital angular momentum, affect electronic transitions of atoms and their motional states in a complex way. We present a general framework, based on the spherical tensor decomposition of the interaction Hamiltonian, for computing atomic transition matrix elements for light fields of arbitrary spatial mode and polarization structures. We study both the bare electronic matrix elements, corresponding to transitions with no coupling to the atomic center-of-mass motion, as well as the matrix elements describing the coupling to the quantized atomic motion in the resolved side-band regime. We calculate the spatial dependence of electronic and motional matrix elements for tightly focused Hermite-Gaussian, Laguerre-Gaussian and for radially and azimuthally polarized beams. We show that near the diffraction limit, all these beams exhibit longitudinal fields and field gradients, which strongly affect the selection rules and could be used to tailor the light-matter interaction. The presented framework is useful for describing trapped atoms or ions in spatially-structured light fields and therefore for designing new protocols and setups in quantum optics, -sensing and -information processing.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Coherent transfer of the transverse momentum of an optical vortex beam to the motion of a single trapped ion

We demonstrate the excitation, using a structured light beam carrying orbital angular momentum, of the center of mass motion of a single atom in the transverse direction to the beam's propagation. This interaction is achieved with a vortex beam carrying one unit of orbital angular momentum and one unit of spin/polarization angular momentum. Using a singly charged $^{40}$Ca$^+$ ion, cooled near the ground state of motion in the 3D harmonic potential of a Paul trap, we probe the narrow S$_{1/2}$ to D$_{5/2}$ transition near $729\,\mathrm{nm}$ on its motional sidebands to quantify the momentum transfer. Exchange of quanta in the perpendicular direction to the beam's wave vector $\mathbf{k}$ is observed in case of the vortex shaped beam, in strong contrast to the absence of this spin-motion coupling for the case of a Gaussian beam. We characterize the coherent interaction by an effective transverse Lamb-Dicke factor $η^\mathrm{exp}_{\perp}=0.0062(5)$ which is in agreement with our theoretical prediction $η^\mathrm{theo}_{\perp}=0.0057(1)$

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Optical super-resolution sensing of a trapped ion's wave packet size

We demonstrate super-resolution optical sensing of the size of the wave packet of a single trapped ion. Our method extends the well known ground state depletion (GSD) technique to the coherent regime. Here, we use a hollow beam to strongly saturate a coherently driven dipole-forbidden transition around a sub-diffraction limited area at its center and observe state dependent fluorescence. By spatially scanning this laser beam over a single trapped $^{40}\mathrm{Ca}^+$ ion, we are able to measure the wave packet sizes of cooled ions. Using a depletion beam waist of $4.2(1)\,μ$m we reach a spatial resolution which allows us to determine a wave packet size of $39(9)\,$nm for a near ground state cooled ion. This value matches an independently deduced value of $32(2)\,$nm, calculated from resolved sideband spectroscopy measurements. Finally, we discuss the ultimate resolution limits of our adapted GSD imaging technique in view of applications to direct quantum wave packet imaging.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

The paraxial approximation fails to describe the interaction of atoms with general vortex light fields

Neglecting the electric field component along the light's propagation direction is a common practice, known as paraxial approximation. However, experimental evidence and theory on the head-on excitation of atoms by Laguerre-Gaussian beams reveal that the full vector character of the light field has to be taken into account. Optical vortices are a large family of fields, being Laguerre-Gaussian only one particular case. Now we extend the study of the applicability of the paraxial approximation to a broader set of optical vortices by considering the interaction of atoms with generalized Laguerre-Gaussian and generalized Bessel beams. We demonstrate that all vortex beams here considered look the same close to the beam axis, where the atom is placed. From this, we conclude that the paraxial approximation fails for the large set of vortex beams, and that a full understanding of the interaction of optical vortices with atoms requires the inclusion of all vector components of the electric field.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2019

A spin heat engine coupled to a harmonic-oscillator flywheel

We realize a heat engine using a single electron spin as a working medium. The spin pertains to the valence electron of a trapped $^{40}$Ca$^+$ ion, and heat reservoirs are emulated by controlling the spin polarization via optical pumping. The engine is coupled to the ion's harmonic-oscillator degree of freedom via spin-dependent optical forces. The oscillator stores the work produced by the heat engine and therefore acts as a flywheel. We characterize the state of the flywheel by reconstructing the Husimi $\mathcal{Q}$ function of the oscillator after different engine runtimes. This allows us to infer both the deposited energy and the corresponding fluctuations throughout the onset of operation, starting in the oscillator ground state. In order to understand the energetics of the flywheel, we determine its ergotropy, i.e. the maximum amount of work which can be further extracted from it. Our results demonstrate how the intrinsic fluctuations of a microscopic heat engine fundamentally limit performance.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Excitation of E1-forbidden Atomic Transitions with Electric, Magnetic or Mixed Multipolarity in Light Fields Carrying Orbital and Spin Angular Momentum

Photons carrying a well-defined orbital angular momentum have been proven to modify spectroscopic selection rules in atomic matter. Excitation profiles of electric quadrupole transitions have been measured with single trapped $^{40}$Ca$^+$ ions for varying polarizations. We further develop the photo-absorption formalism to study the case of arbitrary alignment of the beam's optical axis with respect to the ion's quantization axis and mixed multipolarity. Thus, predictions for M1-dominated $^{40}Ar^{13+}$, E3-driven $^{171}Yb^+$ and $^{172}Yb^+$, and B-like $^{20}Ne^{5+}$ are presented. The latter case displays novel effects, coming from the presence of a strong photon -- magnetic dipole coupling.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Experimental Verification of Position-Dependent Angular-Momentum Selection Rules for Absorption of Twisted Light by a Bound Electron

We analyze the multipole excitation of atoms with twisted light, i.e., by a vortex light field that carries orbital angular momentum. A single trapped $^{40}$Ca$^+$ ion serves as a localized and positioned probe of the exciting field. We drive the $S_{1/2} \to D_{5/2}$ transition and observe the relative strengths of different transitions, depending on the ion's transversal position with respect to the center of the vortex light field. On the other hand, transition amplitudes are calculated for a twisted light field in form of a Bessel beam, a Bessel-Gauss and a Gauss-Laguerre mode. Analyzing experimental obtained transition amplitudes we find agreement with the theoretical predictions at a level of better than 3\%. Finally, we propose measurement schemes with two-ion crystals to enhance the sensing accuracy of vortex modes in future experiments.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Twisted-ligth--ion interaction: the role of longitudinal fields

The propagation of light beams is well described using the paraxial approximation, where field components along the propagation direction are usually neglected. For strongly inhomogeneous or shaped light fields, however, this approximation may fail, leading to intriguing variations of the light-matter interaction. This is the case of twisted light having opposite orbital and spin angular momenta. We compare experimental data for the excitation of a quadrupole transition in a single trapped $^{40}$Ca$^+$ ion by Schmiegelow et al, Nat.\ Comm.\ 7, 12998 (2016), with a complete model where longitudinal components of the electric field are taken into account. Our model matches the experimental data and excludes by 11 standard deviations the approximation of complete transverse field. This demonstrates the importance of all field components in the interaction of twisted light with matter.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Noise-induced transport in the motion of trapped ions

The interplay of noise and quantum coherence in transport gives rise to rich dynamics relevant for a variety of systems. In this work, we put forward a proposal for an experiment testing noise-induced transport in the vibrational modes of a chain of trapped ions. We focus on the case of transverse modes, considering multiple-isotope chains and an "angle trap", where the transverse trapping varies along the chain. This variation induces localization of the motional modes and therefore suppresses transport. By suitably choosing the action of laser fields that couple to the internal and external degrees of freedom of the ions, we show how to implement effective local dephasing on the modes, broadening the vibrational resonances. This leads to an overlap of the local mode frequencies, giving rise to a pronounced increase in the transport of excitations along the chain. We propose an implementation and measurement scheme which require neither ground-state cooling nor low heating rates, and we illustrate our results with a simulation of the dynamics for a chain of three ions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Fast ion swapping for quantum information processing

We demonstrate a SWAP gate between laser-cooled ions in a segmented microtrap via fast physical swapping of the ion positions. This operation is used in conjunction with qubit initialization, manipulation and readout, and with other types of shuttling operations such as linear transport and crystal separation and merging. Combining these operations, we perform quantum process tomography of the SWAP gate, obtaining a mean process fidelity of 99.5(5)\%. The swap operation is demonstrated with motional excitations below 0.05(1)~quanta for all six collective modes of a two-ion crystal, for a process duration of 42~$μ$s. Extending these techniques to three ions, we reverse the order of a three-ion crystal and reconstruct the truth table for this operation, resulting in a mean process fidelity of 99.96(13)\% in the logical basis.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

A long-lived Zeeman trapped-ion qubit

We demonstrate a coherence time of 2.1(1)~s for electron spin superposition states of a single trapped $^{40}$Ca$^+$ ion. The coherence time, measured with a spin-echo experiment, corresponds to residual rms magnetic field fluctuations $\leq$~2.7$\times$10$^{-12}$~T. The suppression of decoherence induced by fluctuating magnetic fields is achieved by combining a two-layer $μ$-metal shield, which reduces external magnetic noise by 20 to 30~dB for frequencies of 50~Hz to 100~kHz, with Sm$_2$Co$_{17}$ permanent magnets for generating a quantizing magnetic field of 0.37~mT. Our results extend the coherence time of the simple-to-operate spin qubit to ultralong coherence times which so far have been observed only for magnetic insensitive transitions in atomic qubits with hyperfine structure.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Entanglement breaking channels and entanglement sudden death

The occurrence of entanglement sudden death in the evolution of a bipartite system depends on both the initial state and the channel responsible for the evolution. An extreme case is that of entanglement braking channels, which are channels that acting on only one of the subsystems drives them to full disentanglement regardless of the initial state. In general, one can find certain combinations of initial states and channels acting on one or both subsystems that can result in entanglement sudden death or not. Neither the channel nor the initial state, but their combination, is responsible for this effect, but their combination. In this work we show that, in all cases, when entanglement sudden death occurs, the evolution can be mapped to that of an effective entanglement breaking channel on a modified initial state. Our results allow to anticipate which states will suffer entanglement sudden death or not for a given evolution. An experiment with polarization entangled photons demonstrates the utility of this result in a variety of cases.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Excitation of an Atomic Transition with a Vortex Laser Beam

Photons carry one unit of angular momentum associated with their spin~\cite{Beth1936}. Structured vortex beams carry additional orbital angular momentum which can also be transferred to matter~\cite{Allen1992}. This extra twist has been used for example to drive motion of microscopic particles in optical tweezers as well as to create vortices in degenerate quantum gases~\cite{He1995,Andersen2006}. Here we demonstrate the transfer of optical orbital angular momentum from the transverse spatial structure of the beam to the internal (electronic) degrees of freedom of an atom. Probing a quadrupole transition of a single trapped $^{40}$Ca$^+$ ion localized at the center of the vortex, we observe strongly modified selection rules, accounting for both the photon spin and the vorticity of the field. In particular, we show that an atom can absorb two quanta of angular momentum from a single photon even when rotational symmetry is conserved. In contrast to previous findings~\cite{Araoka2005,Loeffler2011a,Mathevet2013}, our experiment allows for conditions where the vorticity of the laser beam determines the optical excitation, contributing to the long-standing discussion on whether the orbital angular momentum of photons can be transferred to atomic internal degrees of freedom~\cite{VanEnk1994,Babiker2002,Jauregui2004, Schmiegelow2012, Mondal2014, Scholz-Marggraf2014} and paves the way for its use to tailor light-matter interactions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Noisy quantum teleportation: An experimental study on the influence of local environments

We report experimental results on the action of selected local environments on the fidelity of the quantum teleportation protocol, taking into account non-ideal, realistic entangled resources. Different working conditions are theoretically identified, where a noisy protocol can be made almost insensitive to further addition of noise. We put to test these conditions on a photonic implementation of the quantum teleportation algorithm, where two polarization entangled qubits act as the entangled resource and a path qubit on Alice encodes the state to be teleported. Bob's path qubit is used to implement a local environment, while the environment on Alice's qubit is simulated as a weighed average of different pure states. We obtain a good agreement with the theoretical predictions, we experimentally recreate the conditions to obtain a noise-induced enhancement of the protocol fidelity, and we identify parameter regions of increased insensibility to interactions with specific noisy environments.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Experimental realization of fast ion separation in segmented Paul traps

We experimentally demonstrate fast separation of a two-ion crystal in a microstructured segmented Paul trap. By the use of spectroscopic calibration routines for the electrostatic trap potentials, we achieve the required precise control of the ion trajectories near the \textit{critical point}, where the harmonic confinement by the external potential vanishes. The separation procedure can be controlled by three parameters: A static potential tilt, a voltage offset at the critical point, and the total duration of the process. We show how to optimize the control parameters by measurements of ion distances, trap frequencies and the final motional excitation. At a separation duration of $80 μ$s, we achieve a minimum mean excitation of $\bar{n} = 4.16(0.16)$ vibrational quanta per ion, which is consistent with the adiabatic limit given by our particular trap. We show that for fast separation times, oscillatory motion is excited, while a predominantly thermal state is obtained for long times. The presented technique does not rely on specific trap geometry parameters and can therefore be adopted for different segmented traps.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Remote state preparation of a photonic quantum state via quantum teleportation

We demonstrate an experimental realization of remote state preparation via the quantum teleportation algorithm, using an entangled photon pair in the polarization degree of freedom as the quantum resource. The input state is encoded on the path of one of the photons from the pair. The improved experimental scheme allows us to control the preparation and teleportation of a state over the entire Bloch sphere with a resolution of the degree of mixture given by the coherence length of the photon pair. Both the preparation of the input state and the implementation of the quantum gates are performed in a pair of chained displaced Sagnac interferometers, which contribute to the overall robustness of the setup. An average fidelity above 0.9 is obtained for the remote state preparation process. This scheme allows for a prepared state to be transmitted on every repetition of the experiment, thus giving an intrinsic success probability of 1.

quant-ph↗