Enhancing the coherence time of a neutral atom by an optical quartic trap

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that optical quartic traps can significantly extend the coherence time of neutral atoms, which is vital for advancing quantum technologies, by reducing decoherence through higher-order spatial trapping.

Contribution

The study introduces a new approach using optical quartic traps to enhance atomic coherence time, supported by theoretical formulation and experimental verification.

Findings

Optical quartic traps reduce decoherence rates compared to harmonic traps.

Experimental results confirm increased coherence times with quartic trapping.

Theoretical model aligns qualitatively with experimental data.

Abstract

The coherence time of an optically trapped neutral atom is a crucial parameter for quantum technologies. We found that optical dipole traps with higher-order spatial forms inherently offer lower decoherence rates compared to those with lower-order spatial forms. We formulated the decoherence rate caused by the variance of the differential energy shift and photon jumping rate. Then, we constructed blue-detuned harmonic and quartic optical dipole traps, and experimentally investigated the coherence time of a trapped single cesium atom. The experimental results qualitatively verified our theory. Our approach provides a novel method to enhance the coherence time of optically trapped neutral atoms.