Raman cooling imaging: Detecting single atoms near their ground state of motion

TL;DR

This paper presents a method for imaging single neutral atoms with high precision by using Raman sideband cooling, enabling detection while preserving their motional ground state, which is useful for quantum experiments.

Contribution

The authors introduce a novel imaging technique based on Raman cooling that allows for single-atom detection without disturbing their motional ground state.

Findings

Successfully imaged single atoms in optical tweezers.

Maintained a significant motional ground-state fraction during imaging.

Framework applicable to various atomic species.

Abstract

We demonstrate imaging of neutral atoms via the light scattered during continuous Raman sideband cooling. We detect single atoms trapped in optical tweezers while maintaining a significant motional ground-state fraction. The techniques presented provide a framework for single-atom resolved imaging of a broad class of atomic species.