Our group utilizes laser-cooling and trapping of neutral atoms to push the boundaries of quantum control, quantum information, ultracold plasmas, and strong magnetic field physics. Currently, we are addressing these issues on several fronts:
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Bose-Einstein Condensation (Rachel Sapiro)
A BEC consists of many atoms in the same quantum state. BECs are of interest because they are large objects
that behave quantum mechanically. We intend to explore interactions between BECs and ions.
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Cryogenic Magneto-Optical Trap (Brenton Knuffman)
By photoexciting ground state atoms trapped in a magneto-optic trap, cold
Rydberg gases and plasmas can be generated and studied. The prospect of
trapping these long-lived Rydberg atoms, either electrostatically,
magnetically, or through the ponderomotive force, is being explored in
this system.
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Strong Magnetic Field Atom and Plasma Trap (Eric Paradis, Cornelius Hempel, Brenton Knuffman)
A superconducting Ioffe magnet has been developed to confine cold atoms at
~3 Tesla, and is coupled to a Penning trap for plasmas. Exotic Rydberg
atoms, strongly magnetized cold plasmas, and potentially strongly coupled
two-component plasmas are targetted in this system.
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Dipole Blockade in a Cold Rydberg Gas (Kelly Younge, Prof. Paul Berman)
Temporary excitation of neutral atoms to Rydberg states
and the utilization of strong van der Waals or dipole-dipole energy
shifts provides a promising path
for achieving quantum gates in neutral atom quantum computing schemes.
We are working to demonstrate a reliable blockade effect in small atomic samples
using counting statistics.
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Continuous-wave Atom Laser (Mallory Traxler, Cornelius Hempel, Varun Vaidya)
By mapping the evaporative cooling necessary to achieve BEC into space rather
than time (as is conventionally done), it will be possible to realize a
truly continuous BEC. By adding a the correct output coupler this
system will provide CW matter waves.
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Ion-imaging Tip (Andrew Schwarzkopf, Rachel Sapiro)
We hope to probe the physical distributions of Rydberg atom systems and plasmas.
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Acknowledgements
This work is performed in Randall Laboratory at the University of Michigan (go blue!) as part of the physics department and FOCUS center. It is supported by the following funding agencies:
