SciPost Submission Page
Polarization-Sensitive Imaging in Magnetic Environments
by Nejc Blaznik, Dries van Oosten, Peter van der Straten
Submission summary
| Authors (as registered SciPost users): | Peter van der Straten |
| Submission information | |
|---|---|
| Preprint Link: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.17474v2 (pdf) |
| Data repository: | https://doi.org/10.24416/UU01-Q36JBA |
| Date accepted: | Oct. 6, 2025 |
| Date submitted: | Sept. 11, 2025, 10:04 a.m. |
| Submitted by: | Peter van der Straten |
| Submitted to: | SciPost Physics Core |
| Ontological classification | |
|---|---|
| Academic field: | Physics |
| Specialties: |
|
| Approach: | Experimental |
Abstract
Nondestructive spin-resolved imaging of ultracold atomic gases requires calculating the differences of the refractive indices seen by two circular probe polarizations. Perfect overlap of the two images, corresponding to two different polarizations, is required well below the feature size of interest. In this paper, we demonstrate that the birefringence of atoms in magnetic field gradients results in polarization-dependent aberrations in the image, which deteriorates the overlap. To that end, we develop a model that couples atomic tensor polarizability with position-dependent spin orientation and yields aberration predictions for accumulated phase shifts in arbitrary field geometries. Applied to data from an ultra-cold atomic cloud trapped in a Ioffe-Pritchard trap, the model quantitatively reproduces the observed distortion across a range of temperatures. A residual offset of $\sim1\;\mu\mathrm{m}$ remains even under uniform field conditions, likely due to optical asymmetries. For images obtained through off-axis holography, the full complex field of the probe enables post-processing removal of all magnetically induced aberrations through a single numerically calculated Fourier-space phase mask.
Author comments upon resubmission
We have carefully read the reports by the referees. We are pleased that the referee reports have been positive and agree with their suggestions. We have implemented the changes, as indicated in our response to the referees. We also included a manuscript highlighting the changes, where the corrections are indicated in red and the added sections can be seen in blue.
On behalf of the authors, Peter van der Straten
List of changes
Published as SciPost Phys. Core 8, 076 (2025)