High resolution adaptive imaging of a single atom

Abstract

We report the optical imaging of a single atom with nanometer resolution using an adaptive optical alignment technique that is applicable to general optical microscopy. By decomposing the image of a single laser-cooled atom, we identify and correct optical aberrations in the system and realize an atomic position sensitivity of $\approx$ 0.5 nm/$\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ with a minimum uncertainty of 1.7 nm, allowing the direct imaging of atomic motion. This is the highest position sensitivity ever measured for an isolated atom, and opens up the possibility of performing out-of-focus 3D particle tracking, imaging of atoms in 3D optical lattices or sensing forces at the yoctonewton (10${}^{-24}$ N) scale.

References in corpus (3)

• Ultrasensitive force and displacement detection using trapped ions
• Imaging trapped ions with a microfabricated lens for quantum information processing
• Super-resolution microscopy of single atoms in optical lattices

Cited by in corpus (16)

• High-rate, high-fidelity entanglement of qubits across an elementary quantum network
• Demonstration of two-atom entanglement with ultrafast optical pulses
• Pure single photons from a trapped atom source
• Wavelength-scale errors in optical localization due to spin-orbit coupling of light
• Super-resolution microscopy of cold atoms in an optical lattice
• Probing Nanofriction and Aubry-type signatures in a finite self-organized system
• Using all transverse degrees of freedom in quantum communications based on a generic mode sorter
• Adaptive tip-enhanced nano-spectroscopy
• Optical super-resolution sensing of a trapped ion's wave packet size
• Super-resolved imaging of a single cold atom on a nanosecond timescale
• Ion Trap with In-Vacuum High Numerical Aperture Imaging for a Dual-Species Modular Quantum Computer
• Cold highly charged ions in a radio-frequency trap with superconducting magnetic shielding
• Slow light-enhanced optical imaging of microfiber radius variations with sub-Angström precision
• Cold hybrid electrical-optical ion trap
• Bichromatic UV detection system for atomically-resolved imaging of ions
• A single-atom level mechano-optical transducer for ultrasensitive force sensing