A versatile microscope

Abstract

Quantum Gases Quantum microscopes have been used for more than a decade now to image the many-body states of quantum gases in optical lattices. However, their resolution is limited to optical wavelengths, and they can typically image only a single layer of atoms. As a complementary technique for imaging quantum gases, Veit et al. developed an ion microscope. Atoms were first ionized by laser light, and the resulting ions were controlled using electrostatic lenses and imaged. Although the technique was demonstrated on rubidium atoms in their ground state, it is expected that it will also work on highly excited Rydberg atoms and will enable three-dimensional and time-dependent imaging. Phys. Rev. X 11 , 011036 (2021).