We theoretically develop and experimentally demonstrate a holographic method for imaging cold atoms at the diffraction and photon shot noise limits. Aided by a double point source reference field, a simple iterative algorithm robustly removes the twin image of an 87 Rb cold atom sample during the image recon-struction. Shot-noise limited phase shift and absorption images are consistently retrieved at various probe detunings, and during the laser cooling process. We consistently resolve less than 2 mrad phase shift (0.4% attenuation) of the probe light, outperforming shot-noise limited phase-contrast (absorption) imaging by a factor of 4 or more if the same camera is used without pixel saturation. We discuss the possible extension of this work for precise phase imaging of dense atomic gases, and for off-resonant probing of multiple atoms in optical lattices.
CITATION STYLE
Kreuzer, H. J., & Pawlitzek, R. A. (2003). Digital in-line holography. Europhysics News, 34(2), 62–65. https://doi.org/10.1051/epn:2003206
Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.