MRI: Acquisition of Coupled Wavemeters for Precise Excitation of Charged and Neutral Particles

通过一种被称为激光冷却的过程，稀释的原子气体可以被减速和限制，悬浮在超纯钢真空室中。在这一点上，捕获的原子可以用于下一代应用，如电压传感或微观晶体结构的模拟。为了实现这种应用，主要研究人员计划使用两种不同的外来原子，铷和镱，这两种原子都需要几个颜色截然不同的激光器才能成功地进行激光冷却。这些激光的颜色将跨越光谱的紫外到红外区域，只有当激光光包（激光光子）的能量被精确测量和控制在0.0001%以内时，悬浮才能发生。这个主要研究仪器项目资助了一对称为波长计的高精度设备，以足够的精度测量光子能量。这两种仪器被设计用于光谱的不同部分，它们将通过光纤电缆联网在一起，使两位主要研究人员能够在各自独立的实验室中访问完整的测量范围。这些先进的测量能力不仅会产生新的科学成果，还有助于为明德学院的本科生提供有意义的研究项目。主要研究人员（Goodsell和Hess）正在计划实验，分别使用发射的处于高度激发态的冷铷原子和捕获的冷镱离子的多种同位素链。这些粒子需要370到1250 nm之间的激发光来进行跃迁，这种跃迁很难通过吸收光谱等二次观测来确定。这个主要的研究仪器项目资助了一个菲索和迈克尔逊波长计（波长计）网络来实时测量激光波长。为了跨越两个研究小组所需的整个光谱，该网络将由两个波长灵敏度范围不同的波长计和足够的测量速度组成，以稳定来自波长计的反馈激光。波长计将通过光纤链路和多路光纤开关连接到每个PI的研究空间，因此可以同时监测每个研究小组所需的全范围激光。有了这个仪器，主要研究人员推进了两个研究领域：观察里德伯原子受带电线的空间依赖力的影响，这突出了量子体制中的斯塔克效应，以及实验共捕获不同同位素的离子，以研究它们作为量子比特离子的同情冷却剂的效果。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Through a process called laser cooling, dilute gasses of atoms can be slowed and confined, levitating inside ultra-pure steel vacuum chambers. At this point the trapped atoms can be used for next generation applications, like voltage sensing or the simulation of microscopic crystal structure. To pursue such applications, the principal investigators plan to use two different exotic atoms, rubidium and ytterbium, which each require several lasers with vastly different colors to successfully laser cool. These lasers’ colors will span from the ultraviolet to infrared regions of the spectrum of light, and levitation can only happen if the energy of the packets of laser light (laser photons) is precisely measured and controlled to within about 0.0001%. This Major Research Instrumentation project funds a pair of high precision devices called wavemeters to measure the photon energies with sufficient accuracy. The two meters, which are designed to function in different parts of the light spectrum, will be networked together with fiber optic cables, enabling both principal investigators to have access to the full measurement range in their physically separate labs. These advanced measurement capabilities will not only generate new scientific results, but also help generate meaningful research projects for undergraduate students at Middlebury College.The principal investigators (Goodsell and Hess) are planning experiments using, respectively, launched cold rubidium atoms in highly excited Rydberg states and chains of multiple isotopes of trapped cold ytterbium ions. These particles require excitation light between 370 and 1250 nm for transitions that are hard to determine by secondary observation such as absorption spectroscopy. This Major Research Instrumentation project funds a network of Fizeau and Michelson wavelength meters (wavemeters) to make real-time measurements of laser wavelength. To span the entire spectrum required by both research groups, the network will consist of two wavemeters with different wavelength sensitivity ranges and sufficient measurement speed to stabilize lasers with feedback from the wavemeters. The wavemeters will be connected to each PI's research space using fiber optic links and multiplexed fiber switches, therefore allowing the full range of lasers required by each research group to be monitored simultaneously. With this instrumentation, the principal investigators advance two areas of research: observations of Rydberg atoms subject to the spatially-dependent force of a charged wire, which highlight the Stark effect in a quantum regime, and experiments co-trapping ions of different isotopic species in order to study their efficacy as sympathetic coolants for qubit ions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.