Counting individual 41Ca atoms with a magneto-optical trap
Atomic Physics
2009-11-10 v1 Biological Physics
Abstract
Atom Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA), a novel method based upon laser trapping and cooling, is used to count individual atoms of 41Ca present in biomedical samples with isotopic abundance levels between 10^-8 and 10^-10. ATTA is calibrated against Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry, demonstrating a good agreement between the two methods. The present ATTA system has a counting efficiency of 2x10^-7. Within one hour of observation time, its 3-sigma detection limit on the isotopic abundance of 41Ca reaches 4.5x10^-10.
Cite
@article{arxiv.physics/0310045,
title = {Counting individual 41Ca atoms with a magneto-optical trap},
author = {I. D. Moore and K. Bailey and J. Greene and Z. -T. Lu and P. Mueller and T. P. O'Connor and Ch. Geppert and K. D. A. Wendt and L. Young},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:physics/0310045},
year = {2009}
}