Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 12, 2026
10:40
High Resolution Phonon-assisted Quasi-resonance Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Published on: June 28, 2016
A versatile high resolution objective for imaging quantum gases
L M Bennie1, P T Starkey, M Jasperse
1School of Physics, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia. lisa.bennie@monash.edu
Optics Express
|April 11, 2013
Summary
We developed a high-resolution objective lens using catalog singlets for quantum gas imaging. This lens offers a 35 mm working distance, corrects for window aberrations, and achieves 1.3 μm resolution.
Area of Science:
- Optical Engineering
- Atomic Physics
Background:
- High-resolution imaging is crucial for observing quantum gases.
- Existing imaging systems often face challenges with working distance and window aberrations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and characterize a high-resolution objective lens suitable for imaging within vacuum systems.
- To provide a simple, cost-effective imaging solution for the quantum gas community.
Main Methods:
- Utilized catalog singlet lenses to construct the objective.
- Simulated lens performance, including aberration correction for a glass window.
- Achieved a numerical aperture of 0.36 and a working distance of 35 mm.
Main Results:
- The objective lens achieved a resolution of 1.3 μm at 780 nm.
- Demonstrated a diffraction-limited field of view of 360 μm through a 5 mm window.
- Validated simulated performance with experimental images of a resolution target and pinhole.
Conclusions:
- The developed objective lens provides high-resolution, diffraction-limited imaging capabilities for quantum gas experiments.
- It is adaptable for monochromatic imaging of alkali atoms by adjusting aperture diameter.
- The design can be modified to correct for window thicknesses up to 15 mm.
Related Concept Videos
01:18Imaging Biological Samples with Optical Microscopy
Optical microscopy uses optic principles to provide detailed images of samples. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek designed the first compound optical microscope in the 17th century to visualize blood cells, bacteria, and yeast cells. In 1830, Joseph Jackson Lister created an essentially modern light microscope. The 20th century saw the development of microscopes with enhanced magnification and resolution.
In optical microscopy, the specimen to be viewed is placed on a glass slide and clipped on the stage...
In optical microscopy, the specimen to be viewed is placed on a glass slide and clipped on the stage...
01:26Phase Contrast and Differential Interference Contrast Microscopy
Phase-Contrast Microscopes
In-phase-contrast microscopes, interference between light directly passing through a cell and light refracted by cellular components is used to create high-contrast, high-resolution images without staining. It is the oldest and simplest type of microscope that creates an image by altering the wavelengths of light rays passing through the specimen. Altered wavelength paths are created using an annular stop in the condenser. The annular stop produces a hollow cone of...
In-phase-contrast microscopes, interference between light directly passing through a cell and light refracted by cellular components is used to create high-contrast, high-resolution images without staining. It is the oldest and simplest type of microscope that creates an image by altering the wavelengths of light rays passing through the specimen. Altered wavelength paths are created using an annular stop in the condenser. The annular stop produces a hollow cone of...
01:05Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy
Total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy or TIRF is an advanced microscopic technique used to visualize fluorophores in samples close to a solid surface with a higher refractive index, such as a glass coverslip. TIRF only allows fluorophores in proximity to the solid surface to be excited. When light from a medium with a lower refractive index (such as air) hits the glass coverslip at a critical angle, the light undergoes total internal reflection stead of passing through the glass.