Monitoring and active stabilization of laser injection locking using beam ellipticity.

We unveil a powerful method for the stabilization of laser injection locking based on sensing variations in the output beam ellipticity of an optically seeded laser. The effect arises due to an interference between the seeding beam and the injected laser output. We demonstrate the method for a commercial semiconductor laser without the need for any internal changes to the readily operational injection locked laser system that was used.

Analog stabilization of an electro-optic I/Q modulator with an auxiliary modulation tone.

Proper operation of electro-optic I/Q modulators relies on precise adjustment and control of the relative phase biases between the modulator's internal interferometer arms. We present an all-analog phase bias locking scheme where error signals are obtained from the beat between the optical carrier and optical tones generated by an auxiliary 2 MHz tone to lock the phases of all three involved interferometers for operation up to 10 GHz. With the developed method, we demonstrate an I/Q modulator in carrier-suppressed single-sideband mode, where the suppressed carrier and sideband are locked at optical power levels <-27 relative to the transmitted sideband.

Free Space Ramsey Spectroscopy in Rubidium with Noise below the Quantum Projection Limit.

We demonstrate the utility of optical cavity generated spin-squeezed states in free space atomic fountain clocks in ensembles of 390 000 ^{87}Rb atoms. Fluorescence imaging, correlated to an initial quantum nondemolition measurement, is used for population spectroscopy after the atoms are released from a confining lattice. For a free fall time of 4 milliseconds, we resolve a single-shot phase sensitivity of 814(61) microradians, which is 5.

Bell Correlations in Spin-Squeezed States of 500 000 Atoms.

Bell correlations, indicating nonlocality in composite quantum systems, were until recently only seen in small systems. Here, we demonstrate Bell correlations in squeezed states of 5×10^{5} ^{87}Rb atoms. The correlations are inferred using collective measurements as witnesses and are statistically significant to 124 standard deviations.

Measurement noise 100 times lower than the quantum-projection limit using entangled atoms.

Quantum metrology uses quantum entanglement--correlations in the properties of microscopic systems--to improve the statistical precision of physical measurements. When measuring a signal, such as the phase shift of a light beam or an atomic state, a prominent limitation to achievable precision arises from the noise associated with the counting of uncorrelated probe particles. This noise, commonly referred to as shot noise or projection noise, gives rise to the standard quantum limit (SQL) to phase resolution.

Many-atom-cavity QED system with homogeneous atom-cavity coupling.

We demonstrate a many-atom-cavity system with a high-finesse dual-wavelength standing wave cavity in which all participating rubidium atoms are nearly identically coupled to a 780-nm cavity mode. This homogeneous coupling is enforced by a one-dimensional optical lattice formed by the field of a 1560-nm cavity mode.

Raman lasing with a cold atom gain medium in a high-finesse optical cavity.

We demonstrate a Raman laser using cold (87)Rb atoms as the gain medium in a high-finesse optical cavity. We observe robust continuous wave lasing in the atypical regime where single atoms can considerably affect the cavity field. Consequently, we discover unusual lasing threshold behavior in the system causing jumps in lasing power, and propose a model to explain the effect.

Observation of the spin hall effect of light via weak measurements.

We have detected a spin-dependent displacement perpendicular to the refractive index gradient for photons passing through an air-glass interface. The effect is the photonic version of the spin Hall effect in electronic systems, indicating the universality of the effect for particles of different nature. Treating the effect as a weak measurement of the spin projection of the photons, we used a preselection and postselection technique on the spin state to enhance the original displacement by nearly four orders of magnitude, attaining sensitivity to displacements of approximately 1 angstrom.

Counterfactual quantum computation through quantum interrogation.

The logic underlying the coherent nature of quantum information processing often deviates from intuitive reasoning, leading to surprising effects. Counterfactual computation constitutes a striking example: the potential outcome of a quantum computation can be inferred, even if the computer is not run. Relying on similar arguments to interaction-free measurements (or quantum interrogation), counterfactual computation is accomplished by putting the computer in a superposition of 'running' and 'not running' states, and then interfering the two histories.