We achieve fast, nondestructive quantum-state readout via fluorescence detection of a single 87Rb atom in the 5S1/2 (F=2) ground state held in an optical dipole trap. The atom is driven by linearly-polarized readout laser beams, making the scheme insensitive to the distribution of atomic population in the magnetic sub-levels. We demonstrate a readout fidelity of 97.6±0.2% in a readout time of 160±20μs with the atom retained in >97% of the trials, representing an advancement over other magnetic-state-insensitive techniques. We demonstrate that the F=2 state is partially protected from optical pumping by the distribution of the dipole matrix elements for the various transitions and the AC-Stark shifts from the optical trap. Our results are likely to find application in neutral-atom quantum computing and simulation.
@article{arxiv.2007.09422,
title = {Sub-ms, nondestructive, time-resolved quantum-state readout of a single, trapped neutral atom},
author = {Margaret E. Shea and Paul M. Baker and James A. Joseph and Jungsang Kim and Daniel J. Gauthier},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2007.09422},
year = {2020}
}