Optical traps
Researchers have shown through the use of optical traps that they can throw and catch individual atoms using light on the smallest field imaginable. Optical traps employ a highly focused laser beam that holds and moves tiny objects. Although optical traps have been used to move individual atoms before, this is the first time that an atom was thrown and caught by another trap after being released from a trap.
Jaewook Ahn from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said,
“The freely flying atoms move from one place to the other without being held by or interacting with the optical trap. In other words, the atom is thrown and caught between the two optical traps much like the ball travels between the pitcher and a catcher in a baseball game.”
The researchers threw chilled rubidium atoms over a distance of 4.2 micrometers at a speed up to 65 centimeters per second. This technology could help create quantum computers that use quantum physics to solve problems too complex for classical computers.
Ahn explained,
“These types of flying atoms could enable a new type of dynamic quantum computing by allowing the relative locations of qubits — the quantum equivalent to binary bits — to be more freely changed. It could also be used to create collisions between individual atoms, opening a new field of atom-by-atom chemistry.”
How to throw and catch an atom
To create free-flying atoms, the researchers cooled rubidium atoms to near absolute zero and created optical traps with an 800 nm laser. They accelerated the optical trap holding the atom to throw it, and then turned off the trap, causing the atom to launch out of the trap. Another trap was turned on to capture the incoming atom and decelerated until the atom stopped completely.
The researchers performed a set of proof-of-principle demonstrations to test their method. They showed that the atoms could be thrown through another stationary optical trap and weren’t affected by other atoms encountered along the way. They also used their method to create arrays of atoms.
The researchers successfully created free-flying atoms about 94 percent of the time. They are currently working on fine-tuning the technique to achieve closer to 100 percent success.
Image Credits
In-Article Image Credits
Nadlinger single atom photo via University of Oxford by David AndlingerPhoto of a single atom (dot in center) via University of Oxford by David Andlinger
Free flying atoms illustration via Jaewook Ahn, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology with usage type - Commercial license. No usage restrictions
Featured Image Credit
Free flying atoms illustration via Jaewook Ahn, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology with usage type - Commercial license. No usage restrictions
