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arXiv:1807.02906 · Physical Review X

Superresolution Microscopy of Cold Atoms in an Optical Lattice

Mickey McDonald, Jonathan Trisnadi, Kai-Xuan Yao, Cheng Chin

Published Apr 1, 2019• 58 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

A new superresolution imaging technique reveals the behavior of cold atoms in an optical lattice with a spatial resolution of 32 nm and moir'e patterns that are hugely magnified images of the microscopic atomic density distribution itself.
DOI
10.1103/physrevx.9.021001

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Quantum simulations with ultracold atoms typically create atomic wavefunctions with structures at optical length scales, where direct imaging suffers from the diffraction limit. In analogy to advances in optical microscopy for biological applications, we use a non-linear atomic response to surpass the diffraction limit. Exploiting quantum interference, we demonstrate imaging with super-resolution of λ/50 and excellent temporal resolution of 500 ns. We characterize our microscope's performance by measuring the ensemble averaged probability density of atoms within the unit cells of an optical lattice, and observe the dynamics of atoms excited into motion. This approach can be readily applied to image any atomic or molecular system, as long as it hosts a three-level system.