Heating rates for an atom in a far-detuned optical lattice

TL;DR

This paper derives a comprehensive quantum model to calculate heating rates of a single atom in a far-detuned optical lattice, incorporating realistic atomic structure and experimental conditions, and compares results with experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed master equation including atomic structure and micromotional effects to accurately predict atom heating rates in optical lattices.

Findings

Calculated total and ground band heating rates match experimental data

Micromotional correction significantly affects light shift calculations

Model provides insights into atom dynamics in complex optical lattice setups

Abstract

We calculate single atom heating rates in a far detuned optical lattice, in connection with recent experiments. We first derive a master equation, including a realistic atomic internal structure and a quantum treatment of the atomic motion in the lattice. The experimental feature that optical lattices are obtained by superimposing laser standing waves of different frequencies is also included, which leads to a micromotional correction to the light shift that we evaluate. We then calculate, and compare to experimental results, two heating rates, the "total" heating rate (corresponding to the increase of the total mechanical energy of the atom in the lattice), and the ground bande heating rate (corresponding to the increase of energy within the ground energy band of the lattice).