Bose-Einstein Condensate
(BEC)
Bose-Einstein Condensate
forms when a gas composed of certain particles,
referred to as "bosonic particles," is
cooled to below a critical temperature. At this
temperature, the matter wavelength becomes so large
that the wave-like atoms overlap and start to oscillate
in concert, forming the condensate. This condensate
consists of a macroscopic number of particles,
all of which are in a single quantum state, known
as the "ground state of the system." Bose-Einstein
condensate is a phase transition governed by the
wave nature of the particles, as opposed to interactions
between them.

Image above: Observation
of vortex lattices. These four examples contain 16,
32, 80, and 130 vortices, which have "crystallized" in
a triangular pattern. The cloud with 130 vortices had
a 1-mm diameter after ballistic expansion, representing
a magnification of 20x. Absorption of the optical pumping
light caused slight asymmetries in the density distribution.

Image above:
These pseudocolor images represent quantum vortices
in a rotating condensate of sodium atoms. A condensate
60mm in diameter and 250mm in length was set in rotation
by rotating laser beams. The condensate formed a
regular lattice of vortices and was then allowed
to expand ballistically, resulting in 20X magnification.
The images represent two-dimensional cuts through
the density distribution and display the density
minima due to the vortex cores. The examples shown
contain 0, 16, 70, and 130 vortices. The cloud diameter
was about 1mm. Images courtesy of Prof. Wolfgang
Ketterle, MIT.
 |
"We
are quite pleased with the performance
of the PIXIS: 1024BR in our Bose-Einstein
Condensate experiments. With high sensitivity
in NIR (>750nm) and virtually no etaloning,
it's a great camera to use for acquiring
images of our rubidium BECs." -Dr.
Brian P. Anderson, College of Optical
Sciences, University of Arizona |
Image above:
Three processed phase-contrast images of rubidium
atoms undergoing a BEC phase transition. With
height and false-color scales corresponding to atom-cloud
column density, a thermal gas appears as a broad
distribution while the BEC appears as a sharp peak
once the transition has been crossed. Data
and figures courtesy of B. Anderson, D. Scherer,
C. Weiler, and T. Neely, University of Arizona.
Solutions from Princeton
Instruments
High-performance frame transfer CCD cameras are routinely used to capture luminescence from BEC at high speed. New EMCCD cameras like the ProEM: 512B/512BK and 1024B deliver high sensitivity and feature greater-than-video frame rates. The latest eXcelon back illuminated and deep depletion CCDs offer the highest QE in both NIR (>700nm) and UV region (>350nm).
-
eXcelon, Back-illuminated EMCCDs for high sensitivity and low etaloning
-
eXcelon, Back-illuminated, deep depletion technology for increased NIR&UV sensitivity and no etaloning
- Frame transfer architecture for 100% duty cycle imaging at low light levels (ProEM)
-
Kinetics ("shoot and shift") readout mode for ~µsec time resolution; Custom ProEM: 512BK with on-chip mask for >1 million frames per second in kinetics mode
-
Support for real time frame access
and Linux operating system
Recommended Products
ProEM
PIXIS
-
Back-illuminated,
deep depletion technology for increased
NIR sensitivity and no etaloning (PIXIS:1024BR)
-
Deep cooling with lifetime vacuum guarantee
-
Read noise as low as 2.5 e- rms
-
Ultra high time resolution with "kinetics" readout
mode
Cascade
-
Cascade: 128+ provides >510
frames-per-second
-
Cascade: 1K offers
high-resolution and good "blue" response
-
Back/front illumination
and electron multiplication gain for single
photon sensitivity
-
Real time frame access capability
-
Fiber
optic data interface for long distance
operation from up to 300 meters.