Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 5: Ultracold Atoms: Manipulation and Detection

Q 5.3: Talk

Monday, March 14, 2011, 11:00–11:15, SCH 251

Measurement of the atom number distribution in an optical tweezer using single photon counting — •Andreas Fuhrmanek, Ronan Bourgain, Yvan Sortais, Philippe Grangier, and Antoine Browaeys — Institut d'Optique, RD 128 Campus Polytechnique, 91127 Palaiseau Cedex, France

In this talk I will present our experimental realisation of an atom counting method that allows us to reconstruct the atom number distribution inside a dipole trap and to measure the average atom number precisely. This method relies on counting single photon events on an intensified CCD camera when resonant light is sent on the atoms. We deduce the atom number distribution by analyzing the photon number distribution obtained over a series of images. This technique is a useful alternative to fluorescence or absorption methods, that may underestimate the atom number in dense samples due to photon reabsorption processes.