Abstract

Effective and unrestricted engineering of atom–photon interactions requires precise spatially resolved control of light beams. The significant potential of such manipulations lies in a set of disciplines ranging from solid-state to atomic physics. Here we use a Zeeman-like ac-Stark shift caused by a shaped laser beam to perform rotations of spins with spatial resolution in a large ensemble of cold rubidium atoms. We show that inhomogeneities of light intensity are the main source of dephasing and, thus, decoherence; yet, with proper beam shaping, this deleterious effect is strongly mitigated allowing rotations of 15 rad within one spin-precession lifetime. Finally, as a particular example of a complex manipulation enabled by our scheme, we demonstrate a range of collapse-and-revival behaviors of a free-induction decay signal by imprinting comb-like patterns on the atomic ensemble.

© 2018 Optical Society of America

Optically induced static magnetic field in the ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond

Farid Kalhor, Noah F. Opondo, Shoaib Mahmud, Leif Bauer, Li-Ping Yang, Sunil A. Bhave, and Zubin Jacob
Opt. Lett. 47(13) 3347-3350 (2022)

Controlling dipole transparency with magnetic fields

Stephen Hughes and Girish S. Agarwal
Opt. Lett. 43(24) 5953-5956 (2018)

Micro-lensing-induced line shapes in a single-mode cold-atom–hollow-core-fiber interface

Mohammad Noaman, Maria Langbecker, and Patrick Windpassinger
Opt. Lett. 43(16) 3925-3928 (2018)

Polarization-driven spin precession of mesospheric sodium atoms

Felipe Pedreros Bustos, Domenico Bonaccini Calia, Dmitry Budker, Mauro Centrone, Joschua Hellemeier, Paul Hickson, Ronald Holzlöhner, and Simon Rochester
Opt. Lett. 43(23) 5825-5828 (2018)

Cold-atom shaping with MEMS scanning mirrors

Alan Bregazzi, Paul Janin, Sean Dyer, James P. McGilligan, Oliver Burrow, Erling Riis, Deepak Uttamchandani, Ralf Bauer, and Paul F. Griffin
Opt. Lett. 48(1) 37-40 (2023)