Single-Atom Resolved Imaging and Manipulation in an Atomic Mott Insulator [Elektronische Ressource] / Christof Weitenberg. Betreuer: Immanuel Bloch

Single-Atom Resolved Imaging andManipulation in an Atomic Mott InsulatorChristof WeitenbergDissertation der Fakultät für Physikder Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenMünchen, April 2011Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Immanuel BlochZweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Walter HofstetterTag der mündlichen Prüfung: 26. Mai 2011iiSingle-Atom Resolved Imaging andManipulation in an Atomic Mott InsulatorDissertation der Fakultät für Physikder Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Münchenvorgelegt vonChristof Weitenberggeboren in RhedeMünchen, April 2011ivAbstractThis thesis reports on new experimental techniques for the study of strongly corre-lated states of ultracold atoms in optical lattices. We used a high numerical aperture87imaging system to probe Rb atoms in a two-dimensional lattice with single-site res-olution. Fluorescence imaging allows to detect single atoms with a large signal tonoise ratio and to reconstruct the atom distribution on the lattice.We applied this new technique to a Mott insulator and directlyobserved number squeezing and the emerging shell structure. A comparison of theradial density and variance distributions to theory provides a precise in situ temper-ature and entropy measurement from single images. We find entropies around thecritical value for quantum magnetism.In a second series of experiments, we demonstrated two-dimensional single-sitespin control in the optical lattice.