Search

Coherent perfect absorption is the complete extinction of incoming radiation by a complex potential in a physical system supporting wave propagation. The concept was proven for linear waves in variety of systems including light interacting with absorbing scatterers, plasmonic metasurfaces and graphene films, as well as sound waves. We extend the paradigm to coherent perfect absorption of nonlinear waves and experimentally demonstrate it for matter waves in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. Coherent absorption of nonlinear matter waves is achieved easier than its linear analogs because the strength of two-body interactions offers additional freedom for control. Implementation of the coherent perfect absorber of Bose-Einstein condensates paves the way towards broad exploitation of the phenomenon in nonlinear optics, exciton-polariton condensates, acoustics, and other areas of nonlinear physics. It also opens perspectives for designing atomic laser.

We report on a deterministic single ion source with high repetition rate and high fidelity. The source employs a magneto-optical trap, where ultracold Rubidium atoms are photoionized. The electrons herald the creation of a corresponding ion, whose timing information is used to manipulate its trajectory in flight. We demonstrate an ion rate of up to 40 kHz and achieve a fidelity for single ion operation of 98 %. The technique can be used for all atomic species, which can be laser-cooled, and opens up new applications in ion microscopy, ion implantation and surface spectroscopy.