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arXiv:1709.00946 · Applied Physics Letters

Single atom imaging with an sCMOS camera

Craig Picken, Remy Legaie, Jonathan D. Pritchard

Published Oct 16, 2017• 27 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Single atom imaging requires discrimination of weak photon count events above the background and has typically been performed using electron-multiplying charge-coupled device cameras, photomultiplier tubes, or single photon counting modules. A scientific complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (sCMOS) provides a cost effective and highly scalable alternative to other single atom imaging technologies, offering fast readout and larger sensor dimensions. We demonstrate single atom resolved imaging of two site-addressable optical traps separated by 10 μm using an sCMOS camera, offering a competitive signal-to-noise ratio at intermediate count rates to allow high fidelity readout discrimination (error <10−6) and sub-μm spatial resolution for applications in quantum technologies.

DOI
10.1063/1.5003304

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Single atom imaging requires discrimination of weak photon count events above the background and has typically been performed using electron-multiplying charge-coupled device cameras, photomultiplier tubes, or single photon counting modules. A scientific complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (sCMOS) provides a cost effective and highly scalable alternative to other single atom imaging technologies, offering fast readout and larger sensor dimensions. We demonstrate single atom resolved imaging of two site-addressable optical traps separated by 10 μm using an sCMOS camera, offering a competitive signal-to-noise ratio at intermediate count rates to allow high fidelity readout discrimination (error <10−6) and sub-μm spatial resolution for applications in quantum technologies.
The purpose of this work was to find optimal conditions for recording the signal of a single atom in experiments with Rb87 atoms. To do this, EMCCD and sCMOS video cameras were installed in the same optical system and histograms based on the telegraphic signal from a single atom in a dipole trap were recorded. The signal-to-noise ratio was used as a characteristic of the signal - the ability to separate images from a video camera in the case when there is no atom in the trap and in the case when exactly one atom is observed in the trap. As a result, it was found that in the case of a low signal level, sCMOS cameras are preferable, they show a lower noise level, unlike EMCCD cameras, which are more demanding on the number of photons entering the optical system.
Cameras with single-photon sensitivities can be used to measure the spatial correlations between the photon-pairs that are produced by parametric down-conversion. Even when pumped by a single-mode laser, the signal and idler photons are typically distributed over several thousand spatial modes yet strongly correlated with each other in their position and anti-correlated in their transverse momentum. These spatial correlations enable applications in imaging, sensing, communication, and optical processing. Here we show that, using a photon-number resolving camera, spatial correlations can be observed after only a few 10s of seconds of measurement time, thereby demonstrating comparable performance with previous single photon sensitive camera technologies but with the additional capability to resolve photon-number. Consequently, these photon-number resolving technologies are likely to find wide use in quantum, low-light, imaging systems.
High-resolution fluorescence imaging of ultracold atoms and molecules is paramount to performing quantum simulation and computation in optical lattices and tweezers. Imaging durations in these experiments typically range from a millisecond to a second, significantly limiting the cycle time. In this work, we present fast, 2.4 μs single-atom imaging in lattices, with 99.4% fidelity - pushing the readout duration of neutral atom quantum platforms to be close to that of superconducting qubit platforms. Additionally, we thoroughly study the performance of accordion lattices. We also demonstrate number-resolved imaging without parity projection, which will facilitate experiments such as the exploration of high-filling phases in the extended Bose-Hubbard models, multi-band or SU(N) Fermi-Hubbard models, and quantum link models. High-resolution imaging is essential for quantum simulation and computation in optical lattices and tweezers. Here, authors achieve fast 2.4-microsecond single-atom imaging with 99.4% fidelity and demonstrate number-resolved imaging without parity projection, advancing quantum readout capabilities.
Neutral atom quantum computers require accurate single atom detection for the preparation and readout of their qubits. This is usually done using fluorescence imaging. The occupancy of an atom site in these images is often somewhat ambiguous due to the stochastic nature of the imaging process. Further, the lack of ground truth makes it difficult to rate the accuracy of reconstruction algorithms. We introduce a bottom-up simulator that is capable of generating sample images of neutral atom experiments from a description of the actual state in the simulated system. Possible use cases include the creation of exemplary images for demonstration purposes, fast training iterations for deconvolution algorithms, and generation of labeled data for machine-learning-based atom detection approaches. The implementation is available through our GitHub as a C library or wrapped Python package. We show the modeled effects and implementation of the simulations at different stages of the imaging process. Not all real-world phenomena can be reproduced perfectly. The main discrepancies are that the simulator allows for only one characterization of optical aberrations across the whole image, supports only discrete atom locations, and does not model all effects of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) cameras perfectly. Nevertheless, our experiments show that the generated images closely match real-world pictures to the point that they are practically indistinguishable and can be used as labeled data for training the next generation of detection algorithms.
We continue our previous program1 where we introduced a set of quantum-based design rules directed at quantum engineers who design single-photon quantum communications and quantum imaging devices. Here, we report on experimental progress using SPAD (single photon avalanche diode) arrays of our design and fabricated in CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) technology. Emerging high-resolution imaging techniques based on SPAD arrays have proven useful in a variety of disciplines including bio-fluorescence microscopy and 3D vision systems. They have also been particularly successful for intra-chip optical communications implemented entirely in CMOS technology. More importantly for our purposes, a very low dark count allows SPADs to detect rare photon events with a high dynamic range and high signal-to-noise ratio. Our CMOS SPADs support multi-channel detection of photon arrivals with picosecond accuracy, several million times per second, due to a very short detection cycle. The tiny chip area means they are suitable for highly miniaturized quantum imaging devices and that is how we employ them in this paper. Our quantum path integral analysis of the Young-Afshar-Wheeler interferometer showed that Bohr's complementarity principle was not violated due the previously overlooked effect of photon bifurcation within the lens--a phenomenon consistent with our quantum design rules--which accounts for the loss of which-path information in the presence of interference. In this paper, we report on our progress toward the construction of quantitative design rules as well as some proposed tests for quantum imaging devices using entangled photon sources with our SPAD imager.
We report fluorescence detection of a single 7 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 μ m 2 . For a 200-ms exposure time, the fluorescence count from a single atom is 8.8×10 3 and the background count from scattered MOT beams is 6.8 × 10 4 . 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.