Europhysics Letters (EPL)

Statistical investigations on single trapped neutral atoms

F. Ruschewitz, D. Bettermann, Jin-Long Peng, Wolfgang A. Ertmer

Published Jun 20, 1996• 62 citations

Abstract

Single neutral atoms have been stored in a magneto-optical trap and imaged with the help of a CCD camera. The trapping of individual atoms is marked by steps in the fluorescence signal corresponding to the capture or loss of a single atom. The statistics of these capture and loss processes is explained by means of a birth-death model. The spatial distribution and the trap losses are investigated for the single-atom case and compared with the behaviour of a cloud of up to 2·10 5 atoms.

DOI: 10.1209/epl/i1996-00510-7

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