High-resolution imaging of Rydberg atoms in optical lattices using an aspheric-lens objective in vacuum

Abstract

We present a high-resolution, simple and versatile system for imaging ultracold Rydberg atoms in optical lattices. The imaging objective is a single aspheric lens (with a working distance of 20.6 mm and a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.51) placed inside the vacuum chamber. Adopting a large-working-distance lens leaves room for electrodes and electrostatic shields to control electric fields around Rydberg atoms. With this setup, we achieve an Rayleigh resolution of 1.10 $\mu$m or $1.41\lambda$ ($\lambda=780$ nm), limited by the NA of the aspheric lens. For systems of highly excited Rydberg states with blockade radii greater than a few $\mu$m, the resolution achieved is sufficient for studying many physical processes of interest.