Sagnac-witnessed laser deflection is an ultra-sensitive acoustic detector.

Laser-deflection-based acoustic sensing is known for high bandwidth but low sensitivity. By embedding the sensing laser within a Sagnac interferometer and incorporating split-beam detection-originally developed for optical trapping microscopy-we demonstrate sensitive acoustic detection in air with a 2 MHz bandwidth. In a direct comparison, our method far-exceeds performance metrics of a state-of-the-art, commercially-available, high-bandwidth microphone.

Monitoring damage of self-assembled monolayers using metastable excited helium atoms.

The breaking of molecular bonds during exposure to ionizing radiation and electron beams creates irreversible damage in the molecular structure. In some cases, such as lithography, controlled damage of a molecular resist is a desirable process and is the basis for the entire semiconductor industry. In other cases, such as environmental exposure or probing of the molecular structure, the induced damage is a major problem that has limited advances in science and technology.

Brownian motion as a new probe of wettability.

Understanding wettability is crucial for optimizing oil recovery, semiconductor manufacturing, pharmaceutical industry, and electrowetting. In this letter, we study the effects of wettability on Brownian motion. We consider the cases of a sphere in an unbounded fluid medium, as well as a sphere placed in the vicinity of a plane wall.

Communication: Neutral atom imaging using a pulsed electromagnetic lens.

We report on progress towards a neutral atom imaging device that will be used for chemically sensitive surface microscopy and nanofabrication. Our novel technique for improving refractive power and correcting chromatic aberration in atom lenses is based on a fundamental paradigm shift from continuous-beam focusing to a pulsed, three-dimensional approach. Simulations of this system suggest that it will pave the way toward the long-sought goal of true atom imaging on the nanoscale.

Broadband boundary effects on Brownian motion.

Brownian motion of particles in confined fluids is important for many applications, yet the effects of the boundary over a wide range of time scales are still not well understood. We report high-bandwidth, comprehensive measurements of Brownian motion of an optically trapped micrometer-sized silica sphere in water near an approximately flat wall. At short distances we observe anisotropic Brownian motion with respect to the wall.

Testing the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution using Brownian particles.

We report on shot-noise limited measurements of the instantaneous velocity distribution of a Brownian particle. Our system consists of a single micron-sized glass sphere held in an optical tweezer in a liquid in equilibrium at room temperature. We provide a direct verification of a modified Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity distribution and modified energy equipartition theorem that account for the kinetic energy of the liquid displaced by the particle.

Magneto-optical cooling of atoms.

We propose an alternative method to laser cooling. Our approach utilizes the extreme brightness of a supersonic atomic beam, and the adiabatic atomic coilgun to slow atoms in the beam or to bring them to rest. We show how internal-state optical pumping and stimulated optical transitions, combined with magnetic forces, can be used to cool the translational motion of atoms.

Observation of Brownian motion in liquids at short times: instantaneous velocity and memory loss.

Measurement of the instantaneous velocity of Brownian motion of suspended particles in liquid probes the microscopic foundations of statistical mechanics in soft condensed matter. However, instantaneous velocity has eluded experimental observation for more than a century since Einstein's prediction of the small length and time scales involved. We report shot-noise-limited, high-bandwidth measurements of Brownian motion of micrometer-sized beads suspended in water and acetone by an optical tweezer.

Note: Manipulation of supersonic atomic beams with static magnetic fields.

The inhomogeneous magnetic field of a permanent-magnet planar Halbach array is used to either deflect or to specularly reflect a supersonic beam of neutral atoms. Metastable neon and helium beams are tested to experimentally evaluate the performance of this array in a range of configurations. Results are compared with numerical simulations and the device is presented as a high precision tool for the manipulation of neutral atom beams.

Nanoscale imaging of neutral atoms with a pulsed magnetic lens.

We present a scheme for imaging of neutral atoms to the nanoscale with a pulsed magnetic lens and show its viability through numerical calculations. This scheme achieves focal lengths on the order of several centimeters and focal spots of less than 10 nm. With these results, it is possible to create sub-10 nm structures on surfaces in a parallel and time-efficient manner.

Superdiffusive trajectories in Brownian motion.

The Brownian motion of a microscopic particle in a fluid is one of the cornerstones of statistical physics and the paradigm of a random process. One of the most powerful tools to quantify it was provided by Langevin, who explicitly accounted for a short-time correlated "thermal" force. The Langevin picture predicts ballistic motion, ~t(2) at short-time scales, and diffusive motion ~t at long-time scales, where x is the displacement of the particle during time t, and the average is taken over the thermal distribution of initial conditions.

Atomic laser-beam finder.

We report on an experimental method to align a laser beam to a cloud of atoms trapped in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). We show how balanced lock-in detection leads to a very sensitive method to align the laser beam to the atoms in the plane perpendicular to the propagation direction. This provides a very reliable and fast way of aligning laser beams to atoms trapped in a MOT.

Measurement of the instantaneous velocity of a Brownian particle.

Brownian motion of particles affects many branches of science. We report on the Brownian motion of micrometer-sized beads of glass held in air by an optical tweezer, over a wide range of pressures, and we measured the instantaneous velocity of a Brownian particle. Our results provide direct verification of the energy equipartition theorem for a Brownian particle.

Comprehensive control of atomic motion.

Recent work provides a general two-step solution to trapping and cooling of atoms. The first step is magnetic stopping of paramagnetic atoms with the use of a sequence of pulsed fields. The second step is single-photon cooling, which is based on a one-way barrier.

Development of a fast position-sensitive laser beam detector.

We report the development of a fast position-sensitive laser beam detector. The detector uses a fiber-optic bundle that spatially splits the incident beam, followed by a fast balanced photodetector. The detector is applied to the study of Brownian motion of particles on fast time scales with 1 A spatial resolution.

Real-time control of the periodicity of a standing wave: an optical accordion.

We report an experimental method to create optical lattices with real-time control of their periodicity. We demonstrate a continuous change of the lattice periodicity from 0.96 microm to 11.

Spatial nonlocal pair correlations in a repulsive 1D Bose gas.

We analytically calculate the spatial nonlocal pair correlation function for an interacting uniform 1D Bose gas at finite temperature and propose an experimental method to measure nonlocal correlations. Our results span six different physical realms, including the weakly and strongly interacting regimes. We show explicitly that the characteristic correlation lengths are given by one of four length scales: the thermal de Broglie wavelength, the mean interparticle separation, the healing length, or the phase coherence length.

Single-photon atomic cooling.

We report the cooling of an atomic ensemble with light, where each atom scatters only a single photon on average. This is a general method that does not require a cycling transition and can be applied to atoms or molecules that are magnetically trapped. We discuss the application of this new approach to the cooling of hydrogenic atoms for the purpose of precision spectroscopy and fundamental tests.

Stopping supersonic beams with a series of pulsed electromagnetic coils: an atomic coilgun.

We report the stopping of an atomic beam, using a series of pulsed electromagnetic coils. We use a supersonic beam of metastable neon created in a gas discharge as a monochromatic source of paramagnetic atoms. A series of coils is fired in a timed sequence to bring the atoms to near rest, where they are detected on a microchannel plate.

Quantum many-body culling: production of a definite number of ground-state atoms in a bose-einstein condensate.

We propose a method to produce a definite number of ground-state atoms by adiabatic reduction of the depth of a potential well that confines a degenerate Bose gas with repulsive interactions. Using a variety of methods, we map out the maximum number of particles that can be supported by the well as a function of the well depth and interaction strength, covering the limiting case of a Tonks gas as well as the mean-field regime. We also estimate the time scales for adiabaticity and discuss the recent observation of atomic number squeezing [Chuu, Phys.

Coherent slowing of a supersonic beam with an atomic paddle.

We report the slowing of a supersonic beam by elastic reflection from a receding atomic mirror. We use a pulsed supersonic nozzle to generate a 511+/-9 m/s beam of helium that we slow by reflection from a Si(111)-H(1x1) crystal placed on the tip of a spinning rotor. We were able to reduce the velocity of helium by 246 m/s and show that the temperature of the slowed beam is lower than 250 mK in the comoving frame.

Experimental study of the role of atomic interactions on quantum transport.

We report an experimental study of quantum transport for atoms confined in a periodic potential and compare between thermal and Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) initial conditions. We observe ballistic transport for all values of well depth and initial conditions, and the measured expansion velocity for thermal atoms is in excellent agreement with a single-particle model. For weak wells, the expansion of the BEC is also in excellent agreement with single-particle theory, using an effective temperature.

Direct observation of sub-Poissonian number statistics in a degenerate bose gas.

We report the direct observation of sub-Poissonian number fluctuation for a degenerate Bose gas confined in an optical trap. Reduction of number fluctuations below the Poissonian limit is observed for average numbers that range from 300 to 60 atoms.