Large-photon-number extraction from individual atoms trapped in an optical lattice

The atom-by-atom characterization of quantum gases requires the development of novel measurement techniques. One particularly promising new technique demonstrated in recent experiments uses strong fluorescent laser scattering from neutral atoms confined in a short-period optical lattice to measure t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics Atomic, molecular, and optical physics, 2011-03, Vol.83 (3), Article 033420
Main Author: Shotter, M. D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ATOMS
BOSONS
CALCULATION METHODS
COLLISIONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EMISSION
FLUORESCENCE
HEATING
LASER SPECTROSCOPY
LIFETIME
LUMINESCENCE
MASSLESS PARTICLES
MONTE CARLO METHOD
PHOTON EMISSION
PHOTONS
POLARIZATION
RECOILS
SIGNALS
SIMULATION
SPECTROSCOPY
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TRAPPING
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Summary:The atom-by-atom characterization of quantum gases requires the development of novel measurement techniques. One particularly promising new technique demonstrated in recent experiments uses strong fluorescent laser scattering from neutral atoms confined in a short-period optical lattice to measure the positions of individual atoms in the sample. A crucial condition for the measurements is that atomic hopping between lattice sites must be strongly suppressed despite substantial photon recoil heating. This paper models three-dimensional polarization gradient cooling of atoms trapped within a far-detuned optical lattice. The atomic dynamics are simulated using a hybrid Monte Carlo and master-equation analysis in order to predict the frequency of processes which give rise to degradation or loss of the fluorescent signal during measurements. It is shown, consistently with the experimental results, that there exists a wide parameter range in which the lifetime of strongly fluorescing isolated lattice-trapped atoms is limited by background gas collisions rather than radiative processes. In these cases the total number of scattered photons can be as large as 10{sup 8} per atom. The performance of the technique is related to relevant experimental parameters.
ISSN:1050-2947
1094-1622
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevA.83.033420