Ultracold Atomic Transport by Far-Detuned Superimposed Laguerre Gaussian Beams

Atomtronics is a rapidly growing interdisciplinary field of research in which ultracold atoms are used to create matter-wave circuits that are analogous to electronic components. Atomtronic circuits have a number of advantages over conventional circuits: they are highly sensitive to inertial forces and electromagnetic fields, making them useful for quantum sensors and precision measurements; they have reduced thermal noise, resulting in very low energy loss and in longer coherence times making them ideal for simulating complex quantum systems and for quantum computing; they are also scalable, flexible and highly-controllable, meaning that they can be used to facilitate the development of advanced quantum technologies.

A key requirement in developing state-of-the-art atomtronics circuits with the potential to enable quantum technology devices with no direct analogue in electronics or photonics is the ability to reliably guide and manipulate ultracold atoms. The aim of this project is to investigate how fully-structured light - light that has non-uniform intensity, phase and polarization - can be used to provide complex and reconfigurable optical potentials to control the motion of the ultracold atoms.

Fully-structured light (FSL) lies at the heart of an emerging and extremely promising field of research with applications in high-resolution imaging, optical trapping and manipulation of nanoparticles, and high bandwidth quantum optical communications. When propagating in media with a Kerr-like nonlinearity it has been shown to fragment into a controllable configuration of optical solitons and, in Kerr cavities, to produce rotating optical lattices.

Building on analogies between hot, cold and ultracold atomic systems, the PhD student will help in the derivation of complex numerical models describing the interactions between the amplitude, phase, and polarisation of light and ultracold atomic media. These will significantly advance our fundamental understanding of the interaction of light with nonlinear media and allow fundamental studies in quantum science.

Ultimately, they will be used to aid in the design of complex, dynamic & reconfigurable atomtronic devices.