Related papers: Single atom detection of calcium isotopes by atom …

We present an optical system designed to capture and observe a single neutral atom in an optical dipole trap, created by focussing a laser beam using a large numerical aperture N.A.=0.5 aspheric lens. We experimentally evaluate the…

We describe a simple experimental technique which allows to store a single Rubidium 87 atom in an optical dipole trap. Due to light-induced two-body collisions during the loading stage of the trap the maximum number of captured atoms is…

With the advent of optical clocks featuring fractional frequency uncertainties on the order of $10^{-17}$ and below, new applications such as chronometric levelling with few-cm height resolution emerge. We are developing a transportable…

We present a robust, continuous molecular decelerator that employs high magnetic fields and few optical pumping steps. CaOH molecules are slowed, accumulating at low velocities in a range sufficient for loading both magnetic and…

We demonstrate atom--photon entanglement using a single cesium atom trapped in an optical tweezer. Entanglement is generated by resonant excitation and subsequent spontaneous decay, which entangles the atomic Zeeman state with photon…

Currently, twenty-four calcium, thirty-eight indium, thirty-eight tin and thirty-nine platinum isotopes have been observed and the discovery of these isotopes is discussed here. For each isotope a brief synopsis of the first refereed…

We investigate the production of long lived metastable (3P2, n=4) calcium atoms in a magneto-optical trap operating on the 1S0 to 1P1 transition at 423 nm. For excited 1P1-atoms a weak decay channel into the triplet states 3P2 and 3P1…

We report the rapid accelerated thermalisation of Potassium 39 K atoms loaded in a magnetic trap, in the presence of a single dipole trap beam. More than an order of magnitude reduction in the thermalisation time, to less than a second, is…

We demonstrate a compact (0.25 L) system for laser cooling and trapping atoms from a heated dispenser source. Our system uses a nanofabricated diffraction grating to generate a magneto-optical trap (MOT) using a single input laser beam. An…

The electronic and motional degrees of freedom of trapped ions can be controlled and coherently coupled on the level of individual quanta. Assembling complex quantum systems ion by ion while keeping this unique level of control remains a…

Recording the fluorescence of a magneto-optical trap (MOT) is a standard tool for measuring atom numbers in experiments with ultracold atoms. When trapping few atoms in a small MOT, the emitted fluorescence increases with the atom number in…

We propose a scheme to transfer molecules from a slow beam into an optical trap using only a single photon absorption and emission cycle. The efficiency of such a scheme is numerically explored for BaF using realistic experimental…

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…

We report on saturated absorption spectroscopy measurements of the $(4s^2) ^{1}S_0\rightarrow(4s4p) ^{1}P_1$ transition for the four most abundant even-mass isotopes in calcium. By referencing the laser locked to an ultralow expansion…

We demonstrate trapping of individual rubidium (Rb) and cesium (Cs) atoms in an interleaved array of bright tweezers and dark bottle-beam traps, using a microfabricated optical element illuminated by a single laser beam and a 4F system with…

We report on laser cooling and magneto-optical trapping of atomic zinc. The atoms are cooled using the 213.9\,nm $^1$S$_0$ $\rightarrow$ $^1$P$_1$ transition, making this the shortest wavelength employed for magneto-optical trapping thus…

We demonstrate the fast accumulation of Cr atoms in a conservative potential from a magnetically guided atomic beam. Without laser cooling on a cycling transition, a single dissipative step realized by optical pumping allows to load atoms…

We describe optical methods for trapping, cooling, and observing single $^{87}$Rb atoms in a four-lens "Maltese cross" geometry (MCG). The use of four high numerical-aperture lenses in the cardinal directions enables efficient collection of…

We use an optical cavity to detect single atoms magnetically trapped on an atom chip. We implement the detection using both fluorescence into the cavity and reduction in cavity transmission due to the presence of atoms. In fluorescence, we…

Single atoms trapped in tightly focused optical dipole traps provide an excellent experimental platform for quantum computing, precision measurement, and fundamental physics research. In this work, we propose and demonstrate a novel…