Free-Space Lossless State Detection of a Single Trapped Atom

A. Fuhrmanek, R. Bourgain, Y. R. P. Sortais, and A. Browaeys
Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 133003 – Published 31 March 2011

Abstract

We demonstrate the lossless state-selective detection of a single rubidium 87 atom trapped in an optical tweezer. This detection is analogous to the one used on trapped ions. After preparation in either a dark or a bright state, we probe the atom internal state by sending laser light that couples an excited state to the bright state only. The laser-induced fluorescence is collected by a high numerical aperture lens. The single-shot fidelity of the detection is 98.6±0.2% and is presently limited by the dark count noise of the detector. The simplicity of this method opens new perspectives in view of applications to quantum manipulations of neutral atoms.

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  • Received 20 December 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.133003

© 2011 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

A. Fuhrmanek, R. Bourgain, Y. R. P. Sortais, and A. Browaeys

  • Laboratoire Charles Fabry, Institut d’Optique, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Campus Polytechnique, 2 avenue Augustin Fresnel, RD 128, 91127 Palaiseau cedex, France

See Also

Nondestructive Fluorescent State Detection of Single Neutral Atom Qubits

Michael J. Gibbons, Christopher D. Hamley, Chung-Yu Shih, and Michael S. Chapman
Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 133002 (2011)

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Vol. 106, Iss. 13 — 1 April 2011

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