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Optimized absorption imaging of mesoscopic atomic clouds

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Abstract

We report on the optimization of high-intensity absorption imaging for small Bose–Einstein condensates. The imaging calibration exploits the linear scaling of the quantum projection noise with the mean number of atoms for a coherent spin state. After optimization for atomic clouds containing up to 300 atoms, we find an atom number resolution of \(\varDelta_{\rm det}= 3.7\) atoms, mainly limited by photon shot noise and radiation pressure.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Tilman K. Zibold, Lucca Pezze and Augusto Smerzi for stimulating discussions and Daniel Linnemann for proofreading the manuscript. This work was supported by the Forschergruppe FOR760, the FET-Open project QIBEC (Contract No. 284584) and the Heidelberg Center for Quantum Dynamics. W.M. acknowledges support by the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes. D.B.H. acknowledges support by the Alexander von Humboldt foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kirchhoff Institut für Physik, Im Neuenheimer Feld 227, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Wolfgang Muessel, Helmut Strobel, Maxime Joos, Eike Nicklas, Ion Stroescu, Jiří Tomkovič, David B. Hume & Markus K. Oberthaler

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  1. Wolfgang Muessel
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  2. Helmut Strobel
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  3. Maxime Joos
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  4. Eike Nicklas
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  5. Ion Stroescu
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  6. Jiří Tomkovič
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  7. David B. Hume
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  8. Markus K. Oberthaler
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Correspondence to Wolfgang Muessel.

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Muessel, W., Strobel, H., Joos, M. et al. Optimized absorption imaging of mesoscopic atomic clouds. Appl. Phys. B 113, 69–73 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-013-5553-8

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