Abstract

We perform fluorescence imaging of a single Rb-87 atom after its release from an optical dipole trap. The time-of-flight expansion of the atomic spatial density distribution is observed by accumulating many single atom images. The position of the atom is revealed with a spatial resolution close to 1 mu m by a single-photon event, induced by a short resonant probe. The expansion yields a measure of the temperature of a single atom, which is in very good agreement with the value obtained by an independent measurement based on a release-and-recapture method. The analysis presented in this paper provides a way of calibrating an imaging system useful for experimental studies involving a few atoms confined in a dipole trap.

Publication Details
Publication Type
Journal Article
Year of Publication
2010
Volume
12
DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/12/5/053028
Journal
New Journal of Physics
Contributors
Groups