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Updated: Apr 25, 2026

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation
Published on: February 4, 2017
Ultrafast spin-motion entanglement and interferometry with a single atom
J Mizrahi1, C Senko1, B Neyenhuis1
1Joint Quantum Institute, University of Maryland Department of Physics and National Institute of Standards and Technology, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
Abstract:
We report entanglement of a single atom's hyperfine spin state with its motional state in a time scale of less than 3 ns. We engineer a short train of intense laser pulses to impart a spin-dependent momentum transfer of ± 2 ħk. Using pairs of momentum kicks, we create an atomic interferometer and demonstrate collapse and revival of spin coherence as the motional wave packet is split and recombined. The revival after a pair of kicks occurs only when the second kick is delayed by an integer multiple of the harmonic trap period, a signature of entanglement and disentanglement of the spin with the motion. Such quantum control opens a new regime of ultrafast entanglement in atomic qubits.
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