Single-atom imaging of fermions in a quantum-gas microscope
Abstract
Single-atom-resolved detection in optical lattices using quantum-gas microscopes has enabled a new generation of experiments in the field of quantum simulation. Although such devices have been realized with bosonic species, a fermionic quantum-gas microscope has remained elusive. Here we demonstrate single-site- and single-atom-resolved fluorescence imaging of fermionic potassium-40 atoms in a quantum-gas microscope set-up, using electromagnetically-induced-transparency cooling. We detected on average 1,000 fluorescence photons from a single atom within 1.5 s, while keeping it close to the vibrational ground state of the optical lattice. A quantum simulator for fermions with single-particle access will be an excellent test bed to investigate phenomena and properties of strongly correlated fermionic quantum systems, allowing direct measurement of ordered quantum phases and out-of-equilibrium dynamics, with access to quantities ranging from spin-spin correlation functions to many-particle entanglement.
- Publication:
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Nature Physics
- Pub Date:
- September 2015
- DOI:
- 10.1038/nphys3403
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1503.02005
- Bibcode:
- 2015NatPh..11..738H
- Keywords:
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- Condensed Matter - Quantum Gases;
- Physics - Atomic Physics;
- Quantum Physics
- E-Print:
- 7 pages, 5 figures