Imaging and Localizing Individual Atoms Interfaced with a Nanophotonic Waveguide

Area of Science:

• Quantum Physics
• Nanophotonics
• Atomic Physics

Background:

• Single particle-resolved fluorescence imaging is crucial in cold-atom physics.
• This technique was previously unavailable for nanophotonic atom-light interfaces.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and demonstrate single particle-resolved fluorescence imaging for atoms trapped by optical nanofibers.
• To enable new experiments in quantum nanophotonics by controlling and observing individual atoms.

Main Methods:

• Atoms trapped and optically interfaced using an optical nanofiber.
• Near-resonant light scattered off atoms and imaged.
• Degenerate Raman cooling counteracted heating mechanisms.
• Detection of trapped atoms within 150 ms and recording image sequences.

Main Results:

• Successfully imaged single atoms trapped by an optical nanofiber.
• Measured light transmission, verifying exponential scaling in the few-atom limit (Beer-Lambert's law).
• Observed interference of emitted fields from two simultaneously trapped atoms, dependent on interatomic distance.

Conclusions:

• The demonstrated technique enables postselection and feedback schemes for atom-nanophoton systems.
• This work opens new avenues for quantum nanophotonics experiments.
• Provides a platform for studying light-matter interactions at the nanoscale.