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Applied Optics

Fluorescence imaging efficiency of cold atoms in free fall

Isabelle Serre, Laurence Pruvost, H. T. Duong

Published Feb 20, 1998• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A fluorescence detection scheme coupled to a highly sensitive nitrogen-cooled CCD camera is used to image the spatial distribution of a low-density falling rubidium atomic cloud released from an optical trap. The falling cloud passes through a thin probe laser beam tuned to resonance. The performance of the scheme is illustrated in the analysis of cold atomic clouds collimated by pinholes during their free fall under the influence of gravity. Clouds of approximately 10(4) atoms and with typically 10(6) at./cm(3) density are analyzed spatially with 24-mum resolution. This method is compared with different atomic cloud imaging techniques.

DOI
10.1364/ao.37.001016

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A fluorescence detection scheme coupled to a highly sensitive nitrogen-cooled CCD camera is used to image the spatial distribution of a low-density falling rubidium atomic cloud released from an optical trap. The falling cloud passes through a thin probe laser beam tuned to resonance. The performance of the scheme is illustrated in the analysis of cold atomic clouds collimated by pinholes during their free fall under the influence of gravity. Clouds of approximately 10(4) atoms and with typically 10(6) at./cm(3) density are analyzed spatially with 24-mum resolution. This method is compared with different atomic cloud imaging techniques.
We demonstrate a new method for nondestructive imaging of laser-cooled atoms. This spatial heterodyne technique forms a phase image by interfering a strong reference laser beam with a weak probe beam that passes through the cold atom cloud. The figure of merit equals or exceeds that of phase-contrast imaging, and the technique can be used over a wider range of spatial scales. We show images of a dark-spot magneto-optic trap taken with imaging fluences as low as 61 pJ/cm(2) at a detuning of 11? , resulting in 0.0004 photons scattered per atom.
We present a novel imaging system for ultracold quantum gases in expansion. After release from a confining potential, atoms fall through a sheet of resonant excitation laser light and the emitted fluorescence photons are imaged onto an amplified CCD camera using a high numerical aperture optical system. The imaging system reaches an extraordinary dynamic range, not attainable with conventional absorption imaging. We demonstrate single-atom detection for dilute atomic clouds with high efficiency where at the same time dense Bose-Einstein condensates can be imaged without saturation or distortion. The spatial resolution can reach the sampling limit as given by the 8 μm pixel size in object space. Pulsed operation of the detector allows for slice images, a first step toward a 3D tomography of the measured object. The scheme can easily be implemented for any atomic species and all optical components are situated outside the vacuum system. As a first application we perform thermometry on rubidium Bose-Einstein condensates created on an atom chip.
Resonant frequency modulation spectroscopy has been previously used as a highly sensitive method for measuring the output of cold atom interferometers. Using a detailed model that accounts for optical saturation, laser intensities and atomic densities that vary spatially, and radiation pressure on the atoms, we theoretically investigate under what parameter regimes the optimum signal-to-noise ratio is found under experimentally realistic conditions. We compare this technique to the standard method of fluorescence imaging and find that it outperforms fluorescence imaging for compact interferometers using condensed atomic sources or where the photon collection efficiency is limited. However, we find that fluorescence imaging is likely to be the preferred method when using squeezed atomic sources due to limited atom number.