We achieve laser frequency stabilization by a simple technique based on sub-Doppler dichroic atomic vapor laser lock (DAVLL) in atomic cesium. The technique that combines saturated-absorption spectroscopy and Zeeman splitting of hyperfine structures allows us to obtain a modulation-free dispersion-like error signal for frequency stabilization. For the error signal, the dependence of peak-to-peak amplitude and the slope at the zero-crossing point on the magnetic field is studied by simulation and experiment. Based on the result, we obtain an available sub-Doppler DAVLL error signal with high sensitivity to the frequency drift by selecting an appropriate strength of the magnetic field. Ultimately, the fluctuation of the locked laser frequency is confined to below 0.5 MHz in a long term, exhibiting efficient suppression of frequency noise.

In multistate non-Hermitian systems, higher-order exceptional points and exotic phenomena with no analogues in two-level systems arise. A paradigm is the exceptional nexus (EX), a third-order EP as the cusp singularity of exceptional arcs (EAs), that has a hybrid topological nature. Using atomic Bose-Einstein condensates to implement a dissipative three-state system, we experimentally realize an EX within a two-parameter space, despite the absence of symmetry. The engineered dissipation exhibits density dependence due to the collective atomic response to resonant light. Based on extensive analysis of the system’s decay dynamics, we demonstrate the formation of an EX from the coalescence of two EAs with distinct geometries. These structures arise from the different roles played by dissipation in the strong coupling limit and quantum Zeno regime. Our Letter paves the way for exploring higher-order exceptional physics in the many-body setting of ultracold atoms.

We have investigated photoassociative formation of RbCs molecules in the ${\left(2\right)}^3\Pi$ excited state correlated to $v=8$, $\left(5\right)0^{+}$ vibrational level in detail. The metastable ground-state RbCs molecules formed by spontaneous decay are ionized by pulsed dye laser through resonance-enhanced two-photon ionization. A rate equation of the photoionization process is introduced to explain the dependence of RbCs${}^{+}$ molecular ion intensity on the ionization laser intensity. The saturation effect of molecular ion intensity appears as the photoassociation laser intensity increases. The rotational constant and centrifugal distortion constant are derived to be 0.01304 cm${}^{-1}$ and 0.000015 cm${}^{-1}$ from the photoassociation spectrum with a high sensitivity, respectively. The measured electric dipole moment of the observed $\left(2\right){}^3\Pi$ state RbCs molecules is 4.7(6) D by Stark effect in static electric field.

We propose to utilize the ${}^1\mathrm{\Sigma }{-}^1\mathrm{\Sigma }$ electronic transition system for direct laser cooling of heteronuclear diatomic molecules. AgH, as well as its deuterium isotopolog AgD, is used as an example to illustrate the cooling schemes. Potential-energy curves and relevant molecular parameters of both AgH and AgD, including the spin-orbit constants and the electronic transition dipole moments, are determined in internally contracted multiconfiguration-reference configuration interaction calculations. The highly diagonal Franck-Condon matrices of the $A{}^1{\mathrm{\Sigma }}^{+}-X{}^1{\mathrm{\Sigma }}^{+}$ transitions predicted by the calculations suggest the existence of quasi-closed-cycle transitions, which renders these molecules suitable for direct laser cooling. By solving rate equations numerically, we demonstrated that both AgH and AgD molecules can be cooled from 25 K to 2 mK temperature in approximately 20 ms. Our investigation elucidates and supports the hypothesis that molecules in the simplest ${}^1\mathrm{\Sigma }{-}^1\mathrm{\Sigma }$ system can serve as favorable candidates for direct laser cooling.

We present a simple, reliable, and nondestructive method for the measurement of vacuum pressure in a magneto-optical trap. The vacuum pressure is verified to be proportional to the collision rate constant between cold atoms and the background gas with a coefficient $k$, which can be calculated by means of the simple ideal gas law. The rate constant for loss due to collisions with all background gases can be derived from the total collision loss rate by a series of loading curves of cold atoms under different trapping laser intensities. The presented method is also applicable for other cold atomic systems and meets the miniaturization requirement of commercial applications.