2026-05-29 分子科学研究所
図１．アトムカメラの概念図。光ピンセット中に捕捉された１個の超低温ルビジウム（Rb）原子を空間的に掃引し、光パターンの強度分布および偏光分布を可視化する。
＜関連情報＞
原子カメラ：超低温原子1個を用いた光パターンの超解像走査顕微鏡 Atom camera: super-resolution scanning microscope of a light pattern with a single ultracold atom
T. Tomita,Y. T. Chew,R. A. Villela,T. P. Mahesh,H. Sakai,K. Nishimura,T. Ando,S. de Léséleuc & K. Ohmori
Nature Communications Published:29 May 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73348-x
Abstract
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.
