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<p>Sub-micrometer light patterns play a pivotal role in biology, biophysics, and AMO physics, yet their in situ characterization is limited in spatial resolution and sensitivity. Here, we present an <i>atom camera</i> with a single ultracold atom in an optical tweezer as a scanning probe. Measuring the energy shift on the spin states with the long coherence time and polarization-sensitive transitions yields highly sensitive, high-resolution 2D imaging of both intensity and polarization ellipticity. We characterize the polarization of a tightly-focused beam, observing its non-trivial profile. The spatial resolution is fundamentally limited by the atom’s position uncertainty, suppressed down to quantum fluctuations (~25 nm) in the motional ground state of the tweezer, with an experimentally obtained upper bound of <i>σ</i> ≤ 96(4) nm. This method enables imaging beyond the diffraction limit, surpassing previous approaches limited by thermal fluctuations of the atom, and provides a powerful tool for designing and analyzing submicron-scale light patterns.</p>

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Atom camera: super-resolution scanning microscope of a light pattern with a single ultracold atom

  • 期刊论文

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月29日

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  • T. Tomita,
  • Y. T. Chew,
  • R. A. Villela,
  • T. P. Mahesh,
  • H. Sakai,
  • K. Nishimura,
  • T. Ando,
  • S. de Léséleuc,
  • K. Ohmori

摘要

Sub-micrometer light patterns play a pivotal role in biology, biophysics, and AMO physics, yet their in situ characterization is limited in spatial resolution and sensitivity. Here, we present an atom camera with a single ultracold atom in an optical tweezer as a scanning probe. Measuring the energy shift on the spin states with the long coherence time and polarization-sensitive transitions yields highly sensitive, high-resolution 2D imaging of both intensity and polarization ellipticity. We characterize the polarization of a tightly-focused beam, observing its non-trivial profile. The spatial resolution is fundamentally limited by the atom’s position uncertainty, suppressed down to quantum fluctuations (~25 nm) in the motional ground state of the tweezer, with an experimentally obtained upper bound of σ ≤ 96(4) nm. This method enables imaging beyond the diffraction limit, surpassing previous approaches limited by thermal fluctuations of the atom, and provides a powerful tool for designing and analyzing submicron-scale light patterns.