An experimental realization of high-precision direct frequency comb spectroscopy using counterpropagating femtosecond pulses on two-photon atomic transitions is presented. The Doppler broadened background signal, hampering precision spectroscopy with ultrashort pulses, is effectively eliminated with a simple pulse shaping method. As a result, all four 5S-7S two-photon transitions in a rubidium ...

We demonstrated trapping single neutral Rb atoms in micro traps of an optical ring lattice formed by superposing the +/-l components of the Laguerre-Gaussian mode, and generated by reflecting a single laser beam from a computer controlled spatial light modulator. A single atom in one trap or two atoms with one each in two traps were identified by observing the fluorescence. The trap array loade...

Ultrashort laser pulses have thus far been used in two distinct modes. In the time domain, the pulses have allowed probing and manipulation of dynamics on a subpicosecond time scale. More recently, phase stabilization has produced optical frequency combs with absolute frequency reference across a broad bandwidth. Here we combine these two applications in a spectroscopic study of rubidium atoms....

We present an experimental and theoretical study of the carrier-envelope phase effects on population transfer between two bound atomic states interacting with intense ultrashort pulses. Radio frequency pulses are used to transfer population among the ground state hyperfine levels in rubidium atoms. These pulses are only a few cycles in duration and have Rabi frequencies of the order of the carr...

Ultracold polar molecules, with their long-range electric dipolar interactions, offer a unique platform for studying correlated quantum many-body phenomena. However, realizing a highly degenerate quantum gas of molecules with a low entropy per particle is challenging. We report the synthesis of a low-entropy quantum gas of potassium-rubidium molecules (KRb) in a three-dimensional optical lattic...

We report on an all-optical switch that operates at low light levels. It consists of laser beams counterpropagating through a warm rubidium vapor that induce an off-axis optical pattern. A switching laser beam causes this pattern to rotate even when the power in the switching beam is much lower than the power in the pattern. The observed switching energy density is very low, suggesting that the...

This paper begins with an examination of the revival structure and long-term evolution of Rydberg wave packets for hydrogen. We show that after the initial cycle of collapse and fractional/full revivals, which occurs on the time scale t rev , a new sequence of revivals begins. We find that the structure of the new revivals is different from that of the fractional revivals. The new revivals are ...