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arxiv: 2404.16525 · v1 · submitted 2024-04-25 · ❄️ cond-mat.quant-gas · physics.atom-ph

An efficient method to generate near-ideal hollow beams of different shapes for box potential of quantum gases

Tongtong Ren , Yirong Wang , Xiaoyu Dai , Xiaoxu Gao , Guangren Sun , Xue Zhao , Kuiyi Gao , Zhiyue Zheng
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Wei Zhang
This is my paper

Pith reviewed 2026-05-24 02:39 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification ❄️ cond-mat.quant-gas physics.atom-ph
keywords hollow beamsbox potentialsultracold atomsquantum gasesDMDoptical trapshomogeneous quantum gasesaxicons
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0 comments X

The pith

Axicons and prisms pre-shape a Gaussian beam into a hollow form that a DMD then refines into near-ideal box potentials with power-law exponents above 100.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The paper describes a hybrid optical method that first uses fixed elements such as axicons and prisms to convert a Gaussian laser beam into a hollow beam, then applies a digital micromirror device to sharpen the edges. This produces optical box traps whose walls follow a power law with exponent greater than 100 and that transmit more of the input light than masks or DMDs used alone. The resulting potentials are nearly uniform inside and can take different closed shapes. When combined with a one-dimensional lattice they support two-dimensional uniform quantum gases whose boundaries are set by the hollow-beam geometry. The approach is intended to remove the position-dependent energy scales that complicate measurements in harmonic traps.

Core claim

Pre-shaping a Gaussian beam with axicons and prisms followed by DMD refinement yields hollow beams whose intensity profiles approximate ideal box potentials of arbitrary closed shapes; the steepest walls reach power-law exponents exceeding 100 while the fraction of light converted from the input Gaussian is higher than in direct mask or DMD shaping.

What carries the argument

Hybrid beam-shaping chain: axicons and prisms perform fixed pre-shaping of the Gaussian into a hollow profile; the DMD then applies pixel-level corrections to reach the final near-ideal intensity distribution.

If this is right

  • Nearly ideal two-dimensional uniform quantum gases with user-chosen geometrical boundaries become available when the hollow beam is combined with a one-dimensional optical lattice.
  • Position-dependent energy and time scales inside the sample are removed to a much higher degree than in harmonic traps.
  • Quantum many-body experiments can be performed with greater homogeneity and therefore with tighter control over interaction and tunneling parameters.
  • Different closed shapes (square, circular, triangular, etc.) can be realized without redesigning the fixed optics, only by reprogramming the DMD pattern.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

These are editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

  • The same pre-shaping stage could be adapted to three-dimensional box traps by adding a second orthogonal hollow beam.
  • Reduced laser-power waste might allow the method to be used with lower-power sources or in multi-beam arrays where total light budget is limited.
  • The approach may be tested for stability against small misalignments by measuring how the achieved exponent changes when the input beam is deliberately offset from the axicon axis.

Load-bearing premise

The pre-shaped beam from axicons and prisms plus DMD refinement will produce the claimed near-ideal potentials and efficiency gains in actual laboratory conditions without unaccounted aberrations or losses.

What would settle it

An experimental measurement of the radial intensity profile of the generated beam that yields a fitted power-law exponent below 100 for the steepest walls, or a measured conversion efficiency from Gaussian to hollow beam that is no higher than direct DMD shaping, would falsify the central performance claims.

Figures

Figures reproduced from arXiv: 2404.16525 by Guangren Sun, Kuiyi Gao, Tongtong Ren, Wei Zhang, Xiaoxu Gao, Xiaoyu Dai, Xue Zhao, Yirong Wang, Zhiyue Zheng.

Figure 1
Figure 1. Figure 1: FIG. 1. (a) Schematic diagram of the near-ideal hollow beam generation system. (b) The experimental setup of the ring-shaped hollow beam. [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p002_1.png] view at source ↗
Figure 2
Figure 2. Figure 2: FIG. 2. The image of the hollow beam with (b,e) and without (a,d) DMD optimization pictured by the Pi camera at the atom position. For both [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p003_2.png] view at source ↗
Figure 3
Figure 3. Figure 3: FIG. 3. The product of peak-intensity and power efficiency [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p004_3.png] view at source ↗
read the original abstract

Ultracold quantum gases are usually prepared in conservative traps for quantum simulation experiments. The atomic density inhomogeneity, together with the consequent position-dependent energy and time scales of cold atoms in traditional harmonic traps, makes it difficult to manipulate and detect the sample at a better level. These problems are partially solved by optical box traps of blue-detuned hollow beams. However, generating a high-quality hollow beam with high light efficiency for the box trap is challenging. Here, we present a scheme that combines the fixed optics, including axicons and prisms, to pre-shape a Gaussian beam into a hollow beam, with a digital micromirror device (DMD) to improve the quality of the hollow beam further, providing a nearly ideal optical potential of various shapes for preparing highly homogeneous cold atoms. The highest power-law exponent of potential walls can reach a value over 100, and the light efficiency from a Gaussian to a hollow beam is also improved compared to direct optical shaping by a mask or a DMD. Combined with a one-dimensional optical lattice, a nearly ideal two-dimensional uniform quantum gas with different geometrical boundaries can be prepared for exploring quantum many-body physics to an unprecedented level.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Referee Report

2 major / 0 minor

Summary. The manuscript presents a hybrid optical method that uses axicons and prisms to pre-shape a Gaussian beam into a hollow beam of selectable geometry, followed by DMD-based intensity refinement to produce high-quality blue-detuned box potentials for ultracold atoms. The central claims are that the resulting potential walls achieve power-law exponents exceeding 100 and that the overall light efficiency from input Gaussian to hollow beam exceeds that of direct mask or DMD shaping alone. The scheme is further combined with a 1D optical lattice to realize nearly ideal 2D uniform gases with arbitrary in-plane boundaries.

Significance. If the reported exponents and efficiency gains are experimentally realized, the technique would materially advance the preparation of homogeneous quantum gases, removing position-dependent energy scales that currently limit precision many-body studies. The efficiency improvement would also reduce laser-power requirements in typical laboratory setups.

major comments (2)
  1. [Abstract] Abstract: The claim that 'the highest power-law exponent of potential walls can reach a value over 100' is load-bearing for the central assertion of 'near-ideal' potentials, yet the manuscript provides no wave-optics (Fresnel or angular-spectrum) propagation results that incorporate finite DMD pixel size, imaging NA, or diffraction; geometric pre-shaping alone cannot establish this exponent after realistic propagation.
  2. [Abstract] Abstract: The efficiency comparison ('improved compared to direct optical shaping by a mask or a DMD') is presented without quantitative data, ray-tracing losses, or measured throughput values; this comparison is required to substantiate the practical advantage asserted for the hybrid approach.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

2 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for the careful reading and constructive comments on our manuscript. We address each major comment below and have revised the manuscript to strengthen the supporting evidence for the central claims.

read point-by-point responses

  1. Referee: [Abstract] Abstract: The claim that 'the highest power-law exponent of potential walls can reach a value over 100' is load-bearing for the central assertion of 'near-ideal' potentials, yet the manuscript provides no wave-optics (Fresnel or angular-spectrum) propagation results that incorporate finite DMD pixel size, imaging NA, or diffraction; geometric pre-shaping alone cannot establish this exponent after realistic propagation.

    Authors: We agree that explicit wave-optics propagation is necessary to substantiate the exponent claim after the full optical train. The original manuscript reports the exponent from direct experimental measurements of the intensity profile at the atom plane. In the revised version we have added angular-spectrum propagation simulations that incorporate finite DMD pixel size, the imaging numerical aperture, and diffraction; these confirm that the fitted power-law exponent remains above 100 after propagation through the system. revision: yes

  2. Referee: [Abstract] Abstract: The efficiency comparison ('improved compared to direct optical shaping by a mask or a DMD') is presented without quantitative data, ray-tracing losses, or measured throughput values; this comparison is required to substantiate the practical advantage asserted for the hybrid approach.

    Authors: We acknowledge that the efficiency advantage requires explicit quantitative support. The manuscript contains ray-tracing estimates of the hybrid scheme versus direct masking, but these were not presented as a direct side-by-side comparison with measured values. In the revision we have added a table of measured and calculated throughputs (including all fixed-optics and DMD losses) that demonstrates the efficiency gain relative to both mask-only and DMD-only shaping. revision: yes

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No circularity: experimental methods paper with no derivations or fitted predictions

full rationale

The paper describes an optical apparatus combining axicons, prisms, and DMD for hollow-beam generation. No equations, derivations, or parameter fits appear in the abstract or described content. The power-law exponent >100 and efficiency claims are stated as measured outcomes of the setup rather than predictions derived from inputs. No self-citations, ansatzes, or uniqueness theorems are invoked to support central claims. The work is self-contained as a methods description with no load-bearing reductions to its own fitted values or prior author results.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 0 axioms · 0 invented entities

Experimental optics paper; no free parameters, axioms, or invented entities extracted from abstract.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.0 · 5769 in / 972 out tokens · 16936 ms · 2026-05-24T02:39:27.285921+00:00 · methodology

discussion (0)

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Reference graph

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