Darmstadt 2008 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 47: Quantengase (Bosonen II / Fermionen)
Q 47.2: Talk
Thursday, March 13, 2008, 16:45–17:00, 1A
Single atom detection on a magnetic microchip — •Helmar Bender1, Andreas Günther1, Alexander Stibor1, Sebastian Kraft2, József Fortágh1, and Claus Zimmermann1 — 1Physikalisches Institut der Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 14, D-72076 — 2van der Waals-Zeeman Instituut, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Valckenierstraat 65, 1018 XE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The possibility to detect small amounts of atoms on a magnetic microchip opens the door to a variety of interesting fundamental experiments in the field of ultracold quantum gases. Standard absorption imaging requires a minimum number of several hundred atoms. Thus novel detection methods with single atom sensitivity are currently developed. Here, we present a single atom detector which is implemented in our magnetic microchip setup. The detection scheme is based on optical ionization of single atoms and subsequent counting of the ions in a channeltron. We discuss the characterization of the detector as well as our latest experimental data with ultracold atoms on a magnetic microchip.