Abstract

We present a reliable and robust integrated fluorescence detector capable of detecting single atoms. The detector consists of a tapered lensed single-mode fiber for precise delivery of excitation light and a multimode fiber to collect the fluorescence. Both are mounted in lithographically defined SU-8 holding structures on an atom chip. ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ atoms propagating freely in a magnetic guide are detected with an efficiency of up to 66%, and a signal-to-noise ratio in excess of 100 is obtained for short integration times.

© 2009 Optical Society of America

Miniature fluorescence detector for single atom observation on a microchip

Akifumi Takamizawa, Tilo Steinmetz, Rémi Delhuille, Theodor W. Hänsch, and Jakob Reichel
Opt. Express 14(23) 10976-10983 (2006)

UV-sensitive superconducting nanowire single photon detectors for integration in an ion trap

D. H. Slichter, V. B. Verma, D. Leibfried, R. P. Mirin, S. W. Nam, and D. J. Wineland
Opt. Express 25(8) 8705-8720 (2017)

Time gating of heralded single photons for atomic memories

B. Melholt Nielsen, J. S. Neergaard-Nielsen, and E. S. Polzik
Opt. Lett. 34(24) 3872-3874 (2009)

Low-noise simultaneous fluorescence detection of two atomic states

G. W. Biedermann, X. Wu, L. Deslauriers, K. Takase, and M. A. Kasevich
Opt. Lett. 34(3) 347-349 (2009)

Resonator-enhanced optical guiding and trapping of Cs atoms

Fang Fang and David S. Weiss
Opt. Lett. 34(2) 169-171 (2009)