Internship: Fluorescence imaging of cold atoms
On our experimental device, ultra-cold atoms of sodium are magnetically trapped at the surface of an atom chip. We would like to install a fluorescence detection system based on the use of a light sheet that will allow to detect atoms after a time of flight of about fifty milliseconds. The light sheet will be formed by two orthogonal pairs of contra-propagating beams. It will thus constitute a two-dimensional optical lattice that will ensure the trapping of the atoms during their free fall.
The purpose of the internship will be to design and implement such a system on the experimental device. The work will start by modelling the interaction of the atoms with the light sheet in order to define its optimal parameters before its construction. In a second stage, the student will focus on optimizing the properties of the imaging objective and its construction. The next step consists in installing the EMCCD camera, which will ensure the detection of scattered photons by the atoms. Finally, the complete system will be tested on the sodium atoms available on the experimental device.
Environment: The student will be supervised by Aurélien Perrin and Romain Dubessy. In addition to his/her participation in the experiments conducted on the setup, he/she will benefit from weekly journal club sessions shared with the other groups in the laboratory dealing with cold atoms.
Email : aurelien.perrin@univ-paris13.fr
Tél : 0149403203