Nondestructive imaging of an ultracold lattice gas

Abstract

We demonstrate the nondestructive imaging of a lattice gas of ultracold bosons. Atomic fluorescence is induced in the simultaneous presence of degenerate Raman sideband cooling. The combined influence of these processes controllably cycles an atom between a dark state and a fluorescing state while eliminating heating and loss. Through spatially resolved sideband spectroscopy following the imaging sequence, we demonstrate the efficacy of this imaging technique in various regimes of lattice depth and fluorescence acquisition rate. Our work provides an important extension of quantum gas imaging to the nondestructive detection, control and manipulation of atoms in optical lattices. In addition, our technique can also be extended to atomic species that are less amenable to molasses-based lattice imaging.