A Quantum Gas Microscope for Fermionic Atoms (1503.02648v2)

Abstract: Strongly interacting fermions define the properties of complex matter at all densities, from atomic nuclei to modern solid state materials and neutron stars. Ultracold atomic Fermi gases have emerged as a pristine platform for the study of many-fermion systems. Here we realize a quantum gas microscope for fermionic $^{40}$K atoms trapped in an optical lattice, which allows one to probe strongly correlated fermions at the single atom level. We combine 3D Raman sideband cooling with high-resolution optics to simultaneously cool and image individual atoms with single lattice site resolution at a detection fidelity above $95\%$. The imaging process leaves each atom predominantly in the 3D ground state of its lattice site, inviting the implementation of a Maxwell's demon to assemble low-entropy many-body states. Single site resolved imaging of fermions enables the direct observation of magnetic order, time resolved measurements of the spread of particle correlations, and the detection of many-fermion entanglement.