A double-well atom trap for fluorescence detection at the Heisenberg limit

TL;DR

This paper presents a hybrid atom trap enabling simultaneous, high-precision fluorescence detection of two atomic ensembles, advancing quantum metrology towards the Heisenberg limit with single-atom resolution.

Contribution

The authors develop a novel hybrid trap with a dipole barrier for dual-ensemble fluorescence detection, achieving unprecedented sensitivity for quantum metrology applications.

Findings

Achieved single-atom resolution for up to 500 atoms in atom number difference.

Introduced a comprehensive noise model for measurement errors.

Demonstrated potential for quantum metrology at the Heisenberg limit.

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate an atom number detector capable of simultaneous detection of two mesoscopic ensembles with single-atom resolution. Such a sensitivity is a prerequisite for quantum metrology at a precision approaching the Heisenberg limit. Our system is based on fluorescence detection of atoms in a novel hybrid trap in which a dipole barrier divides a magneto-optical trap into two separated wells. We introduce a noise model describing the various sources contributing to the measurement error and report a limit of up to 500 atoms for single-atom resolution in the atom number difference.