arXiv subjects

M. Marinelli

Publications and source records attributed to M. Marinelli.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Long-term laser frequency stabilization with an FPGA-controlled scanning cavity

We present an FPGA-based implementation of a scanning transfer cavity lock (STCL) for laser frequency stabilization, allowing for the simultaneous stabilization of multiple laser sources with respect to a single reference laser by means of a continuously scanned Fabry-Perot cavity. By exploiting the FPGA architecture to simultaneously perform cavity scanning, peak detection, and feedback actuation, we minimize latency and allow independent control loops for several lasers within a single device, offering direct scalability. The system performance is analyzed through heterodyne measurements from short ($<1\,$s) to long ($\sim20\,$hours) timescales. The end-to-end locking performance is validated through atomic spectroscopy of ytterbium atoms in a magneto-optical trap, demonstrating sub-MHz absolute frequency stability over several hours for the stability transfer across $\sim 150\,$nm in the visible-wavelength range. Importantly, we demonstrate a novel fast-scanning approach based on acousto-optic modulator (AOM) frequency modulation, enabled by the low detection latency of our FPGA implementation. This increases significantly the effective locking bandwidth and reduces the intrinsic noise of the system with respect to standard piezo-actuated scanning of the cavity length, allowing to reach sub-$100\,$kHz long-term stability and offering perspectives for laser-line narrowing. Owing to its modularity, low cost and ease of implementation within the open-source PyRPL firmware package for the STEMlab Red Pitaya platform, our architecture offers a compact and flexible alternative to existing STCL and locked-cavity implementations, providing a practical approach to the operation of a state-of-the-art cold-atom experiment without relying on any atomic references for laser stabilization.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2026

Testing and Validation of the Updated Pixel-Based Non-Linearity Calibration File for WFC3/IR

The WFC3\IR channel has an innate non-linear response to incident photons, which is corrected for in the calwf3 pipeline with the NLINFILE reference file. The 2009 solution is based on an average polynomial correction for each IR quadrant and is found to be poorly constrained at high fluence levels (e-) approaching the saturation limit. Using a variety of image types, sources, and sample sequences, we test a new pixel-based linearity correction developed by Shenoy et al. (2025). In nearly all cases, the new correction improves the linearity at fluence levels higher than 50,000 e-, with improvements up to 7% for pixels with fluences approaching the saturation limit (80,000 e-) in the last ima reads. The pixel-based solution also significantly decreases the number of cosmic rays erroneously flagged (due to non-linearity correction errors) during ramp fitting in calwf3, leading to improved photometric accuracy in the calibrated flt data and higher signal-to-noise ratios, particularly in Quad 1 (upper-left detector quadrant). Because the new solution tends to make sources brighter, we recalibrate the five HST flux standards used to compute the IR zeropoints and find a negligible impact (0.1-0.2%) on the published values by Calamida et al. (2024), smaller than the RMS dispersion (0.5%) in the observed to synthetic flux ratios for all five flux standards. The new NLINFILE 9au15283i lin.fits was delivered to CRDS in October 2025 and will be used to reprocess all WFC3/IR imaging and grism observations in the MAST archive. An updated reference file a2412448i lin.fits was delivered in February 2026, improving the results at the highest fluence levels by a few tenths of a percent. Please consult the Addendum for details.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2024

Old massive clusters (and a nuclear star cluster?) in the tidal tails of NGC5238

New, deep HST photometry allowed us to identify and study eight compact and bright (M_V< -5.8) star clusters in the outskirts of the star-forming isolated dwarf galaxy NGC5238 (M_*= 10^8 M_sun). Five of these clusters are new discoveries, and six appear projected onto, and/or aligned with the tidal tails recently discovered around this galaxy. The clusters are partially resolved into stars and their colour magnitude diagrams reveal a well developed red giant branch, implying ages older than 1-2~Gyr. Their integrated luminosity and structural parameters are typical of classical globular clusters and one of them has M_V=-10.56 +/- 0.07, as bright as Omega Cen, the brightest globular cluster of the Milky Way. Since the properties of this cluster are in the range spanned by those of nuclear star clusters we suggest that it may be the nuclear remnant of the disrupted satellite of NGC5238 that produced the observed tidal tails.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

A phonon laser in the quantum regime

We demonstrate a trapped-ion system with two competing dissipation channels, implemented independently on two ion species co-trapped in a Paul trap. By controlling coherent spin-oscillator couplings and optical pumping rates we explore the phase diagram of this system, which exhibits a regime analogous to that of a (phonon) laser but operates close to the quantum ground state with an average phonon number of $\bar{n}<10$. We demonstrate phase locking of the oscillator to an additional resonant drive, and also observe the phase diffusion of the resulting state under dissipation by reconstructing the quantum state from a measurement of the characteristic function.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

New Photometric Calibration of the Wide Field Camera 3 Detectors

We present a new photometric calibration of the WFC3-UVIS and WFC3-IR detectors based on observations collected from 2009 to 2020 for four white dwarfs, namely GRW+70~5824, GD~153, GD~71, G191B2B, and a G-type star, P330E. These calibrations include recent updates to the Hubble Space Telescope primary standard white dwarf models and a new reference flux for Vega. Time-dependent inverse sensitivities for the two WFC3-UVIS chips, UVIS1 and UVIS2, were calculated for all 42 full-frame filters, after accounting for temporal changes in the observed count rates with respect to a reference epoch in 2009. We also derived new encircled energy values for a few filters and improved sensitivity ratios for the two WFC3-UVIS chips by correcting for sensitivity changes with time. Updated inverse sensitivity values for the 20 WFC3-UVIS quad filters and for the 15 WF3-IR filters were derived by using the new models for the primary standards and the new Vega reference flux and, in the case of the IR detector, new flat fields. However, these values do not account for any sensitivity changes with time. The new calibration provides a photometric internal precision better than 0.5% for the wide-, medium-, and narrow-band WFC3-UVIS filters, 5% for the quad filters, and 1% for the WFC3-IR filters. As of October 15, 2020, an updated set of photometric keywords are populated in the WFC3 image headers.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2017

Sequential modular position and momentum measurements of a trapped ion mechanical oscillator

The non-commutativity of position and momentum observables is a hallmark feature of quantum physics. However this incompatibility does not extend to observables which are periodic in these base variables. Such modular-variable observables have been suggested as tools for fault-tolerant quantum computing and enhanced quantum sensing. Here we implement sequential measurements of modular variables in the oscillatory motion of a single trapped ion, using state-dependent displacements and a heralded non-destructive readout. We investigate the commutative nature of modular variable observables by demonstrating no-signaling-in-time between successive measurements, using a variety of input states. In the presence of quantum interference, which we enhance using squeezed input states, measurements of different periodicity show signaling-in-time. The sequential measurements allow us to extract two-time correlators for modular variables, which we use to violate a Leggett-Garg inequality. The experiments involve control and coherence of multi-component superpositions of up to 8 coherent, squeezed or Fock state wave-packets. Signaling-in-time as well as Leggett-Garg inequalities serve as efficient quantum witnesses which we probe here with a mechanical oscillator, a system which has a natural crossover from the quantum to the classical regime.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Photo-physical properties of He-related color centers in diamond

Diamond is a promising platform for the development of technological applications in quantum optics and photonics. The quest for color centers with optimal photo-physical properties has led in recent years to the search for novel impurity-related defects in this material. Here, we report on a systematic investigation of the photo-physical properties of two He-related (HR) emission lines at 535 nm and 560 nm created in three different diamond substrates upon implantation with 1.3 MeV He+ ions and subsequent annealing. The spectral features of the HR centers were studied in an "optical grade" diamond substrate as a function of several physical parameters, namely the measurement temperature, the excitation wavelength and the intensity of external electric fields. The emission lifetimes of the 535 nm and 560 nm lines were also measured by means of time-gated photoluminescence measurements, yielding characteristic decay times of (29 +- 5) ns and (106 +- 10) ns, respectively. The Stark shifting of the HR centers under the application of an external electrical field was observed in a CVD diamond film equipped with buried graphitic electrodes, suggesting a lack of inversion symmetry in the defects' structure. Furthermore, the photoluminescence mapping under 405 nm excitation of a "detector grade" diamond sample implanted at a 1x1010 cm-2 He+ ion fluence enabled to identify the spectral features of both the HR emission lines from the same localized optical spots. The reported results provide a first insight towards the understanding of the structure of He-related defects in diamond and their possible utilization in practical applications

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Quantum harmonic oscillator state control in a squeezed Fock basis

We demonstrate control of a trapped-ion quantum harmonic oscillator in a squeezed Fock state basis, using engineered Hamiltonians analogous to the Jaynes-Cummings and anti-Jaynes-Cummings forms. We demonstrate that for squeezed Fock states with low $n$ the engineered Hamiltonians reproduce the $\sqrt{n}$ scaling of the matrix elements which is typical of Jaynes-Cummings physics, and also examine deviations due to the finite wavelength of our control fields. Starting from a squeezed vacuum state, we apply sequences of alternating transfer pulses which allow us to climb the squeezed Fock state ladder, creating states up to excitations of $n = 6$ with up to 8.7 dB of squeezing, as well as demonstrating superpositions of these states. These techniques offer access to new sets of states of the harmonic oscillator which may be applicable for precision metrology or quantum information science.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Cooling atomic ions with visible and infra-red light

We demonstrate the ability to load, cool and detect singly-charged calcium ions in a surface electrode trap using only visible and infrared lasers for the trapped-ion control. As opposed to the standard methods of cooling using dipole-allowed transitions, we combine power broadening of a quadrupole transition at 729 nm with quenching of the upper level using a dipole allowed transition at 854 nm. By observing the resulting 393 nm fluorescence we are able to perform background-free detection of the ion. We show that this system can be used to smoothly transition between the Doppler cooling and sideband cooling regimes, and verify theoretical predictions throughout this range. We achieve scattering rates which reliably allow recooling after collision events and allow ions to be loaded from a thermal atomic beam. This work is compatible with recent advances in optical waveguides, and thus opens a path in current technologies for large-scale quantum information processing. In situations where dielectric materials are placed close to trapped ions, it carries the additional advantage of using wavelengths which do not lead to significant charging, which should facilitate high rate optical interfaces between remotely held ions.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2016

Lateral IBIC characterization of single crystal synthetic diamond detectors

In order to evaluate the charge collection efficiency (CCE) profile of single-crystal diamond devices based on a p type/intrinsic/metal configuration, a lateral Ion Beam Induced Charge (IBIC) analysis was performed over their cleaved cross sections using a 2 MeV proton microbeam. CCE profiles in the depth direction were extracted from the cross-sectional maps at variable bias voltage. IBIC spectra relevant to the depletion region extending beneath the frontal Schottky electrode show a 100% CCE, with a spectral resolution of about 1.5%. The dependence of the width of the high efficiency region from applied bias voltage allows the constant residual doping concentration of the active region to be evaluated. The region where the electric field is absent shows an exponentially decreasing CCE profile, from which it is possible to estimate the diffusion length of the minority carriers by means of a drift-diffusion model.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2016

A 3-dimensional interdigitated electrode geometry for the enhancement of charge collection efficiency in diamond detectors

In this work, a single crystal CVD diamond film with a novel three-dimensional (3D) interdigitated electrode geometry has been fabricated with the Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) technique in order to increase the charge collection efficiency (CCE) with respect to that obtained by standard superficial electrodes. The geometrical arrangement of the electric field lines due to the 3D patterning of the electrodes results in a shorter travel path for the excess charge carriers, thus contributing to a more efficient charge collection mech-anism. The CCE of the device was mapped by means of the Ion Beam Induced Charge (IBIC) technique. A 1 MeV proton micro-beam was raster scanned over the active area of the diamond detector under different bias voltage conditions, enabling to probe the charge transport properties of the detector up to a depth of 8 μm below the sample surface. The experimental results, supported by the numerical simulations, show a significant improvement in the 3D-detector performance (i.e. CCE, energy resolution, extension of the active area) if compared with the results obtained by standard surface metallic electrodes.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2015

Observation of quantum interference between separated mechanical oscillator wavepackets

The ability of matter to be superposed at two different locations while being intrinsically connected by a quantum phase is among the most counterintuitive predictions of quantum physics. While such superpositions have been created for a variety of systems, the in-situ observation of the phase coherence has remained out of reach. Using a heralding measurement on a spin-oscillator entangled state, we project a mechanical trapped-ion oscillator into a superposition of two spatially separated states, a situation analogous to Schrödinger's cat. Quantum interference is clearly observed by extracting the occupations of the energy levels. For larger states, we encounter problems in measuring the energy distribution, which we overcome by performing the analogous measurement in a squeezed Fock basis with each basis element stretched along the separation axis. Using 8 dB of squeezing we observe quantum interference for cat states with phase space separations of $Δα= 15.6$, corresponding to wavepackets with a root-mean-square extent of 7.8 nm separated by over 240 nm. We also introduce a method for reconstructing the Wigner phase-space quasi-probability distribution using both squeezed and non-squeezed Fock bases. We apply this to a range of negative parity cats, observing the expected interference fringes and negative values at the center of phase space. Alongside the fundamental nature of these large state superpositions, our reconstruction methods facilitate access to the large Hilbert spaces required to work with mesoscopic quantum superpositions, and may be realized in a wide range of experimental platforms.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Time-dependent Hamiltonian estimation for Doppler velocimetry of trapped ions

The time evolution of a closed quantum system is connected to its Hamiltonian through Schroedinger's equation. The ability to estimate the Hamiltonian is critical to our understanding of quantum systems, and allows optimization of control. Though spectroscopic methods allow time-independent Hamiltonians to be recovered, for time-dependent Hamiltonians this task is more challenging. Here, using a single trapped ion, we experimentally demonstrate a method for estimating a time-dependent Hamiltonian of a single qubit. The method involves measuring the time evolution of the qubit in a fixed basis as a function of a time-independent offset term added to the Hamiltonian. In our system the initially unknown Hamiltonian arises from transporting an ion through a static, near-resonant laser beam. Hamiltonian estimation allows us to estimate the spatial dependence of the laser beam intensity and the ion's velocity as a function of time. This work is of direct value in optimizing transport operations and transport-based gates in scalable trapped ion quantum information processing, while the estimation technique is general enough that it can be applied to other quantum systems, aiding the pursuit of high operational fidelities in quantum control.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Fast quantum control and light-matter interactions at the 10,000 quanta level

Fast control of quantum systems is essential in order to make use of quantum properties before they are degraded by decoherence. This is important for quantum-enhanced information processing, as well as for pushing quantum systems into macroscopic regimes at the boundary between quantum and classical physics. Bang-bang control attains the ultimate speed limit by making large changes to control fields on timescales much faster than the system can respond, however these methods are often challenging to implement experimentally. Here we demonstrate bang-bang control of a trapped-ion oscillator using nano-second switching of the trapping potentials. We perform controlled displacements which allow us to realize quantum states with up to 10,000 quanta of energy. We use these displaced states to verify the form of the ion-light interaction at high excitations which are far outside the usual regime of operation. These methods provide new possibilities for quantum-state manipulation and generation, alongside the potential for a significant increase in operational clock speed for ion-trap quantum information processing.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Quantum harmonic oscillator state synthesis by reservoir engineering

The robust generation of quantum states in the presence of decoherence is a primary challenge for explorations of quantum mechanics at larger scales. Using the mechanical motion of a single trapped ion, we utilize reservoir engineering to generate squeezed, coherent and displaced-squeezed states as steady states in the presence of noise. We verify the created state by generating two-state correlated spin-motion Rabi oscillations resulting in high contrast measurements. For both cooling and measurement, we use spin-oscillator couplings that provide transitions between oscillator states in an engineered Fock state basis. Our approach should facilitate studies of entanglement, quantum computation, and open-system quantum simulations in a wide range of physical systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Precision measurements of the total and partial widths of the psi(2S) charmonium meson with a new complementary-scan technique in antiproton-proton annihilations

We present new precision measurements of the psi(2S) total and partial widths from excitation curves obtained in antiproton-proton annihilations by Fermilab experiment E835 at the Antiproton Accumulator in the year 2000. A new technique of complementary scans was developed to study narrow resonances with stochastically cooled antiproton beams. The technique relies on precise revolution-frequency and orbit-length measurements, while making the analysis of the excitation curve almost independent of machine lattice parameters. We study the psi(2S) meson through the processes pbar p -> e+ e- and pbar p -> J/psi + X -> e+ e- + X. We measure the width to be Gamma = 290 +- 25(sta) +- 4(sys) keV and the combination of partial widths Gamma_e+e- * Gamma_pbarp / Gamma = 579 +- 38(sta) +- 36(sys) meV, which represent the most precise measurements to date.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2005

Measurement of the branching ratios $ψ^\prime \to e^+ e^-$, $ψ^\prime \to J/ψππ$ and $ψ^\prime \to J/ψη$

We have measured several branching ratios for $ψ^\prime$ decay using the data collected by FNAL E835 experiment during year 2000, obtaining ${\cal B}(ψ^\prime \to e^+ e^-) = 0.0068\pm0.0001\pm0.0004$, ${\cal B}(ψ^\prime \to J/ψπ^+ π^-) = 0.292\pm0.005\pm0.018$, ${\cal B}(ψ^\prime \to J/ψπ^0 π^0) = 0.167\pm0.005\pm0.014$ and ${\cal B}(ψ^\prime \to J/ψη) = 0.028\pm0.002\pm0.002$. We also present a measurement of the dipion mass distribution in the decays $ψ^\prime \to J/ψππ$.

hep-ex↗

arXiv1998

Study of the reaction pbar p -> phi phi from 1.1 to 2.0 GeV/c

A study has been performed of the reaction pbar p -> 4K using in-flight antiprotons from 1.1 to 2.0 GeV/c incident momentum interacting with a hydrogen jet target. The reaction is dominated by the production of a pair of phi mesons. The pbar p -> phi phi cross section rises sharply above threshold and then falls continuously as a function of increasing antiproton momentum. The overall magnitude of the cross section exceeds expectations from a simple application of the OZI rule by two orders of magnitude. In a fine scan around the xi/f_J(2230) resonance, no structure is observed. A limit is set for the double branching ratio B(xi -> pbar p) * B(xi -> phi phi) < 6e-5 for a spin 2 resonance of M = 2.235 GeV and Width = 15 MeV.

hep-ex↗