Zhou Yong-Zhuang, Zhang Man-Chao, Su Wen-Bo, Wu Chun-Wang, Xie Yi, Chen Ting, Wu Wei, Chen Ping-Xing, Zhang Jie
Institute for Quantum Science and Technology, College of Science, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, 410073, China.
Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology, Xi'an, 710024, China.
Nat Commun. 2024 Aug 1;15(1):6483. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-49701-3.
Three-dimensional (3D) imaging of individual atoms is a critical tool for discovering new physical phenomena and developing new technologies in microscopic systems. However, the current single-atom-resolved 3D imaging methods are limited to static circumstances or a shallow detection range. Here, we demonstrate a generic dynamic 3D imaging method to track the extensive motion of single ions by exploiting the engineered point-spread function (PSF). We show that the image of a single ion can be engineered into a helical PSF, thus enabling single-snapshot acquisition of the position information of the ion in the trap. A preliminary application of this technique is demonstrated by recording the 3D motion trajectory of a single trapped ion and reconstructing the 3D dynamical configuration transition between the zig and zag structures of a 5-ion crystal. This work opens the path for studies on single-atom-resolved dynamics in both trapped-ion and neutral-atom systems.
单个原子的三维（3D）成像对于发现微观系统中的新物理现象和开发新技术而言是一项关键工具。然而，当前的单原子分辨3D成像方法仅限于静态环境或浅探测范围。在此，我们展示了一种通用的动态3D成像方法，通过利用工程化的点扩散函数（PSF）来追踪单个离子的广泛运动。我们表明，单个离子的图像可以被设计成螺旋PSF，从而能够单次快照获取离子在阱中的位置信息。通过记录单个被俘获离子的3D运动轨迹并重建5离子晶体之字形结构间的3D动态构型转变，证明了该技术的初步应用。这项工作为在被俘获离子和中性原子系统中研究单原子分辨动力学开辟了道路。
