Precision position measurement of moving atoms

George R. Welch, K. D. Stokes, Jennifer Margaret Gardner +3 more

K. D. Stokes, C. Schnurr, J. R. Gardner +3 more

We demonstrate optical techniques for precisely measuring the position of moving atoms. Micron spatial resolution is attained by the methods which ultimately will scale to yield nanometer resolution limited by the uncertainty principle.

D. Steck

John E. Thomas

All optical techniques for position measurement and localization of moving atoms have been developed recently, which achieve suboptical wavelength precision. These techniques, which we refer to as‘atom imaging', are based on new methods of resonance imaging. The attainable accuracy ultimately will scale to the uncertainty principle limit, yielding nanometre spatial resolution for single moving atoms. Diverse applications include fundamental studies of Bose and Fermi statistics and direct-writing neutral-atom lithography.

Steven Chu, David S. Weiss, Brent C. Young

J. R. Gardner, M. Marable, George R. Welch +1 more

We demonstrate all-optical techniques for position measurement and localization of moving atoms with suboptical wavelength precision. Spatial resolution of 200 nanometers, with linearity over a few microns, is obtained by the methods which ultimately will scale to yield nanometer resolution limited by the uncertainty principle.