Engineering single-atom angular momentum eigenstates in an optical tweezer

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a new all-optical method to create and verify angular momentum eigenstates of a single atom in an optical tweezer, advancing quantum state control techniques.

Contribution

It introduces a novel interference-based optical approach to engineer atomic angular momentum states and provides detailed experimental validation.

Findings

Successful creation of atomic angular momentum eigenstates

Verification via density distribution measurements

Observation of the sense of rotation through Ramsey spectroscopy

Abstract

We engineer angular momentum eigenstates of a single atom by using a novel all-optical approach based on the interference of Laguerre-Gaussian beams. We confirm the imprint of angular momentum by measuring the two-dimensional density distribution and by performing Ramsey spectroscopy in a slightly anisotropic trap, which additionally reveals the sense of rotation. This article provides the experimental details on the quantum state control of angular momentum eigenstates reported in P. Lunt et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 253401 (2024).