Detecting magnetically guided atoms with an optical cavity

Abstract

We show that a low finesse cavity can be efficient for detecting neutral atoms. The low finesse can be compensated for by decreasing the mode waist of the cavity. We have used a near concentric resonator with a beam waist of 12$\mu$m and a finesse of only 1100 to detect magnetically guided Rb atoms with a detection sensitivity of 0.1 atom in the mode volume. For future experiments on single atom detection and cavity QED applications, it should be very beneficial to use miniaturized optical resonator integrated on atom chips.