Abstract

We are currently developing Raman-induced resonance-imaging techniques for ultrahigh-resolution position measurement and localization of moving atoms.¹ We obtain transit-time-limited frequency resolution in intense spatially varying potentials, which correlate the atomic position with the Raman resonance frequency. The use of optical fields for the Raman region permits easy application to very small interaction volumes where extremely large spatially varying Zeeman shifts or light shifts (10⁹-10¹² Hz/cm) can be employed to achieve position resolution as high as 7 nm. This leads to quantum-mechanical limitations on the measurement accuracy.

© 1990 Optical Society of America