Quantum-noise-limited interferometric measurement of atomic noise: Towards spin squeezing on the Cs clock transition

We investigate theoretically and experimentally a nondestructive interferometric measurement of the state population of an ensemble of laser-cooled and trapped atoms. This study is a step toward generation of (pseudo)spin squeezing of cold atoms targeted at the improvement of the cesium clock perfor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics Atomic, molecular, and optical physics, 2005-04, Vol.71 (4), Article 043807
Main Authors: Oblak, Daniel, Petrov, Plamen G., Garrido Alzar, Carlos L., Tittel, Wolfgang, Vershovski, Anton K., Mikkelsen, Jens K., Sørensen, Jens L., Polzik, Eugene S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ATOMIC CLOCKS
ATOMS
BENCHMARKS
CESIUM
COOLING
EMISSION
ENERGY LEVELS
INTERFERENCE
LASER RADIATION
NOISE
OPACITY
OPTICS
PHASE SHIFT
PROBES
PULSES
SENSITIVITY
SPIN
TRAPPING
VISIBLE RADIATION
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Summary:We investigate theoretically and experimentally a nondestructive interferometric measurement of the state population of an ensemble of laser-cooled and trapped atoms. This study is a step toward generation of (pseudo)spin squeezing of cold atoms targeted at the improvement of the cesium clock performance beyond the limit set by the quantum projection noise of atoms. We calculate the phase shift and the quantum noise of a near-resonant optical probe pulse propagating through a cloud of cold {sup 133}Cs atoms. We analyze the figure of merit for a quantum nondemolition (QND) measurement of the collective pseudospin and show that it can be expressed simply as a product of the ensemble optical density and the pulse-integrated rate of the spontaneous emission caused by the off-resonant probe light. Based on this, we propose a protocol for the sequence of operations required to generate and utilize spin squeezing for the improved atomic clock performance via a QND measurement on the probe light. In the experimental part we demonstrate that the interferometric measurement of the atomic population can reach a sensitivity of the order of {radical}(N{sub at}) in a cloud of N{sub at} cold atoms, which is an important benchmark toward the experimental realization of the theoretically analyzed protocol.
ISSN:1050-2947
1094-1622
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevA.71.043807