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 - TY - JOUR T1 - Many-body localization in a quantum simulator with programmable random disorder JF - Nature Physics Y1 - 2016 A1 - Jacob Smith A1 - Aaron Lee A1 - Philip Richerme A1 - Brian Neyenhuis A1 - Paul W. Hess A1 - Philipp Hauke A1 - Markus Heyl A1 - David A. Huse A1 - Christopher Monroe AB -

When a system thermalizes it loses all local memory of its initial conditions. This is a general feature of open systems and is well described by equilibrium statistical mechanics. Even within a closed (or reversible) quantum system, where unitary time evolution retains all information about its initial state, subsystems can still thermalize using the rest of the system as an effective heat bath. Exceptions to quantum thermalization have been predicted and observed, but typically require inherent symmetries or noninteracting particles in the presence of static disorder. The prediction of many-body localization (MBL), in which disordered quantum systems can fail to thermalize in spite of strong interactions and high excitation energy, was therefore surprising and has attracted considerable theoretical attention. Here we experimentally generate MBL states by applying an Ising Hamiltonian with long-range interactions and programmably random disorder to ten spins initialized far from equilibrium. We observe the essential signatures of MBL: memory retention of the initial state, a Poissonian distribution of energy level spacings, and entanglement growth in the system at long times. Our platform can be scaled to higher numbers of spins, where detailed modeling of MBL becomes impossible due to the complexity of representing such entangled quantum states. Moreover, the high degree of control in our experiment may guide the use of MBL states as potential quantum memories in naturally disordered quantum systems.

UR - http://arxiv.org/abs/1508.07026v1 U5 - 10.1038/nphys3783 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Long-lived dipolar molecules and Feshbach molecules in a 3D optical lattice JF - Physical Review Letters Y1 - 2012 A1 - Amodsen Chotia A1 - Brian Neyenhuis A1 - Steven A. Moses A1 - Bo Yan A1 - Jacob P. Covey A1 - Michael Foss-Feig A1 - Ana Maria Rey A1 - Deborah S. Jin A1 - Jun Ye AB - We have realized long-lived ground-state polar molecules in a 3D optical lattice, with a lifetime of up to 25 s, which is limited only by off-resonant scattering of the trapping light. Starting from a 2D optical lattice, we observe that the lifetime increases dramatically as a small lattice potential is added along the tube-shaped lattice traps. The 3D optical lattice also dramatically increases the lifetime for weakly bound Feshbach molecules. For a pure gas of Feshbach molecules, we observe a lifetime of >20 s in a 3D optical lattice; this represents a 100-fold improvement over previous results. This lifetime is also limited by off-resonant scattering, the rate of which is related to the size of the Feshbach molecule. Individually trapped Feshbach molecules in the 3D lattice can be converted to pairs of K and Rb atoms and back with nearly 100% efficiency. VL - 108 UR - http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.4420v1 CP - 8 J1 - Phys. Rev. Lett. U5 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.080405 ER -