TY - JOUR T1 - High resolution adaptive imaging of a single atom JF - Nature Photonics Y1 - 2016 A1 - J. D. Wong-Campos A1 - K. G. Johnson A1 - Brian Neyenhuis A1 - J. Mizrahi A1 - Chris Monroe AB -

We report the optical imaging of a single atom with nanometer resolution using an adaptive optical alignment technique that is applicable to general optical microscopy. By decomposing the image of a single laser-cooled atom, we identify and correct optical aberrations in the system and realize an atomic position sensitivity of ≈ 0.5 nm/Hz−−−√ with a minimum uncertainty of 1.7 nm, allowing the direct imaging of atomic motion. This is the highest position sensitivity ever measured for an isolated atom, and opens up the possibility of performing out-of-focus 3D particle tracking, imaging of atoms in 3D optical lattices or sensing forces at the yoctonewton (10−24 N) scale.

U4 - 606-610 UR - https://www.nature.com/nphoton/journal/v10/n9/full/nphoton.2016.136.html CP - 10 U5 - 10.1038/nphoton.2016.136 ER -