Experimental realization of stimulated Raman shortcut-to-adiabatic passage with cold atoms

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 7; no. 1; p. 12479
• Main Authors: Du, Yan-Xiong, Liang, Zhen-Tao, Li, Yi-Chao, Yue, Xian-Xian, Lv, Qing-Xian, Huang, Wei, Chen, Xi, Yan, Hui, Zhu, Shi-Liang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 11.08.2016; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/766/36/1121; 639/766/400/482; Cold; Electrons; Humanities and Social Sciences; Lasers; multidisciplinary; Physics; Protocol; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); China
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12479

Accurate control of a quantum system is a fundamental requirement in many areas of modern science ranging from quantum information processing to high-precision measurements. A significantly important goal in quantum control is preparing a desired state as fast as possible, with sufficiently high fidelity allowed by available resources and experimental constraints. Stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) is a robust way to realize high-fidelity state transfer but it requires a sufficiently long operation time to satisfy the adiabatic criteria. Here we theoretically propose and then experimentally demonstrate a shortcut-to-adiabatic protocol to speed-up the STIRAP. By modifying the shapes of the Raman pulses, we experimentally realize a fast and high-fidelity stimulated Raman shortcut-to-adiabatic passage that is robust against control parameter variations. The all-optical, robust and fast protocol demonstrated here provides an efficient and practical way to control quantum systems. Stimulated Raman adiabatic passage is a robust approach to realize high-fidelity state transfer, but requires long operation. Here, the authors propose a shortcut-to-adiabatic protocol to speed up such approach by modifying the Raman pulses, and demonstrate it in a cold atomic setup.