Researchers at JILA have discovered a new way to keep atoms in an excited state longer by using a dense quantum gas of atoms to create a “Fermi sea.” This technique, which relies on the Pauli exclusion principle, can delay the natural decay of excited atoms by up to 10%, potentially improving quantum communication networks and atomic clocks.
The new method involves embedding excited atoms in a Fermi sea, where their motion is restricted and they cannot share the same quantum states. This blocking effect prevents the atoms from emitting photons, which would normally cause them to decay back to their resting state. The researchers used a low-energy Fermi gas of strontium atoms to demonstrate this effect, which could be further optimized for longer excited-state lifetimes or even complete decay blocking in future experiments.
The potential applications of this research include protecting optical qubits in quantum communication networks and improving the stability of atomic clocks by extending the interrogation times of atoms. The work was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Science Foundation, and NIST.
Keywords: Quantum, Blocking, Pauli, Fermi, Decoy
