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 PhotonMAX deliver high sensitivity and feature greater-than-video frame rates. The latest full frame PIXIS: 1024BR offers excellent NIR sensitivity without problematic etaloning in the NIR region.

• Back-illuminated for high sensitivity
• Back-illuminated, deep depletion technology for increased NIR 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
• Support for real time frame access and Linux operating system

Recommended Products

ProEM

• Deep cooling with lifetime vacuum guarantee
• Back-illumination and electron multiplication (EM) gain for single photon sensitivity 
• Ultra-high time resolution with "kinetics" readout mode
• Fiber optic data interface for long distance operation from up to 300 meters