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 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.
- Received 20 December 2010
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.133003
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