Design of a technique to measure the density of ultracold atoms in a short-period optical lattice in three dimensions with single-atom sensitivity

Abstract

A measurement technique is described that has the potential to map the atomic site occupancies of ultracold atoms in a short-period three-dimensional optical lattice. The method uses accordion and pinning lattices, together with polarization gradient cooling and fluorescence detection, to measure the positions of individual atoms within the sample in three dimensions at a resolution of around half the atomic resonant wavelength. The method measures the site occupancy, rather than the parity of the site occupancy, of atoms in the lattice. It is expected that such measurements hold significant potential for the study of ultracold quantum dynamics.