title: Single-atom source in the picokelvin regime.
abstract: An important aspect of the rapidly growing field of quantum atom optics is exploring the behavior of ultracold atoms at a deeper level than the mean field approximation, where the quantum properties of individual atoms becomes important. Major recent advances have been achieved with the creation and detection of reliable single-atom sources, which is a crucial tool for testing fundamental quantum processes. Here, we create a source comprised of a single ultracold metastable helium atom, which enables novel free-space quantum atom optics experiments to be performed with single massive particles with large de Broglie wavelengths.
authors.affiliation: Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia.
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Manning
authors.affiliation: Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Khakimov
authors.affiliation: Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia.
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Dall
authors.affiliation: Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia.
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Truscott