Abstract
We report fluorescence detection of a single <sup>7</sup>Li atom in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). We use a double MOT system, which allows us to control the loading rate of the second MOT by simply turning on or off the first MOT and to use a modest magnetic field gradient of 46 G/cm. A single atom is trapped for longer than 100 s. The fluorescence from the trapped atoms is imaged onto an electron-multiplying charge-coupled device with a unit magnification factor by a pair of aspheric lenses. The numerical aperture of the objective lens is 0.22 with a collecting efficiency of 1.3%. Accumulated fluorescence is extracted by integrating the signal over a region of interest of 500×350 μm<sup>2</sup>. For a 200-ms exposure time, the fluorescence count from a single atom is 8.8×10<sup>3</sup> and the background count from scattered MOT beams is 6.8 × 10<sup>4</sup>. We actively stabilize the trap beam power to reduce the noise and the measured noise is two times the statistical noise. Overall signal-to-noise ratio of the single-atom detection is 37/√ Hz. We also describe a modification of the system that is adapted to an experimental configuration for quantum manipulation of single atoms in a 1D optical lattice.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1675-1679 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Journal of the Korean Physical Society |
| Volume | 66 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2015 Jun 20 |
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Keywords
- Lithium atom
- Magneto-optical trap
- Single-atom detection
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy(all)
Cite this
Detection of a single lithium atom in a magneto-optical trap. / Han, Hyok Sang; Yoon, Seokchan; Cho, Donghyun.
In: Journal of the Korean Physical Society, Vol. 66, No. 11, 20.06.2015, p. 1675-1679.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Detection of a single lithium atom in a magneto-optical trap
AU - Han, Hyok Sang
AU - Yoon, Seokchan
AU - Cho, Donghyun
PY - 2015/6/20
Y1 - 2015/6/20
N2 - We report fluorescence detection of a single 7Li atom in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). We use a double MOT system, which allows us to control the loading rate of the second MOT by simply turning on or off the first MOT and to use a modest magnetic field gradient of 46 G/cm. A single atom is trapped for longer than 100 s. The fluorescence from the trapped atoms is imaged onto an electron-multiplying charge-coupled device with a unit magnification factor by a pair of aspheric lenses. The numerical aperture of the objective lens is 0.22 with a collecting efficiency of 1.3%. Accumulated fluorescence is extracted by integrating the signal over a region of interest of 500×350 μm2. For a 200-ms exposure time, the fluorescence count from a single atom is 8.8×103 and the background count from scattered MOT beams is 6.8 × 104. We actively stabilize the trap beam power to reduce the noise and the measured noise is two times the statistical noise. Overall signal-to-noise ratio of the single-atom detection is 37/√ Hz. We also describe a modification of the system that is adapted to an experimental configuration for quantum manipulation of single atoms in a 1D optical lattice.
AB - We report fluorescence detection of a single 7Li atom in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). We use a double MOT system, which allows us to control the loading rate of the second MOT by simply turning on or off the first MOT and to use a modest magnetic field gradient of 46 G/cm. A single atom is trapped for longer than 100 s. The fluorescence from the trapped atoms is imaged onto an electron-multiplying charge-coupled device with a unit magnification factor by a pair of aspheric lenses. The numerical aperture of the objective lens is 0.22 with a collecting efficiency of 1.3%. Accumulated fluorescence is extracted by integrating the signal over a region of interest of 500×350 μm2. For a 200-ms exposure time, the fluorescence count from a single atom is 8.8×103 and the background count from scattered MOT beams is 6.8 × 104. We actively stabilize the trap beam power to reduce the noise and the measured noise is two times the statistical noise. Overall signal-to-noise ratio of the single-atom detection is 37/√ Hz. We also describe a modification of the system that is adapted to an experimental configuration for quantum manipulation of single atoms in a 1D optical lattice.
KW - Lithium atom
KW - Magneto-optical trap
KW - Single-atom detection
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84934995547&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84934995547&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3938/jkps.66.1675
DO - 10.3938/jkps.66.1675
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84934995547
VL - 66
SP - 1675
EP - 1679
JO - Journal of the Korean Physical Society
JF - Journal of the Korean Physical Society
SN - 0374-4884
IS - 11
ER -