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LaserPhys Youth School-Conference

Comparison of EMCCD and sCMOS cameras for registration of single atom in dipole trap

Semyon Spirin

Published Jan 1, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

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.

DOI
10.15862/83mnnpk25.32

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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.
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.
Abstract The trapping of single atoms in optical dipole traps is widely used in experiments on the implementation of quantum processors based on neutral atoms, and studying interatomic interactions. Typically, such experiments employ lenses with a large numerical aperture (NA > 0.5), highly sensitive EMCCD cameras, or photon counters. In this work, we demonstrate trapping and detection of single rubidium atoms using a long-focus objective lens with a numerical aperture NA = 0.172 and a FLir Tau CNV sCMOS camera.
Abstract Single alkali-metal atoms in arrays of optical dipole traps represent a quantum register that can be used for quantum computation and simulation based on short-term Rydberg excitations, which switch the interactions between qubits. To load single atoms into optical dipole traps and then detect them by resonance fluorescence, lenses with a large numerical aperture (NA > 0.5) inside a vacuum chamber and expensive EMCCD cameras are commonly used. We present our recent experimental results on demonstrating the trapping of single 87Rb atoms using a long-focus objective lens with a low numerical aperture (NA = 0.172) placed outside the vacuum chamber, and detecting single atoms with a low-cost sCMOS camera. We also present our current results on implementing a single-qubit gate based on optical pumping and subsequent microwave transition between two hyperfine sublevels of a single 87Rb atom with fidelity near 95%.
Abstract The results of experiments on the implementation of single-qubit quantum gates with a single 87Rb atom in an optical dipole trap with a wavelength of 850 nm are presented. The trap is formed by a long focal-length objective lens located outside the vacuum chamber of a magneto-optical trap. An atom is detected using a resonance fluorescence signal with an sCMOS video camera. The experiments involved the trapping and confinement of a single atom at times up to 50 s, optical pumping by polarized laser radiation, microwave transitions between two hyperfine sublevels of the ground state, and the measurement of the quantum state of the atom by pushing it from the trap. Rabi oscillations are observed during the “clock” microwave transition 5S1/2(F = 2, MF = 0) → 5S1/2(F = 1, MF = 0) between two operating qubit levels at a frequency of up to 4.2 kHz, a contrast of up to 95%, and a coherence time of up to 3 ms. These oscillations correspond to the implementation of two basic single-qubit quantum operations (Hadamard gate, NOT gate) from various initial qubit states with an average fidelity of 95.2 ± 3%.