Erbium Lab
Fast single atom imaging for optical lattice arrays
Nature Communications 16 (2025)
High-resolution fluorescence imaging of ultracold atoms and molecules is paramount to performing quantum simulation and computation in optical lattices and tweezers. Imaging durations in these experiments typically range from a millisecond to a second, significantly limiting the cycle time. In this work, we present fast, 2.4 μs single-atom imaging in lattices, with 99.4% fidelity - pushing the readout duration of neutral atom quantum platforms to be close to that of superconducting qubit platforms. Additionally, we thoroughly study the performance of accordion lattices. We also demonstrate number-resolved imaging without parity projection, which will facilitate experiments such as the exploration of high-filling phases in the extended Bose-Hubbard models, multi-band or SU(N) Fermi-Hubbard models, and quantum link models.