%A Fei Song, Jin-Yu Chen, Zhi-Ping Wang, Ben-Li Yu %T Three-dimensional atom localization via spontaneous emission in a four-level atom %0 Journal Article %D 2018 %J Front. Phys. %J Frontiers of Physics %@ 2095-0462 %R 10.1007/s11467-018-0817-8 %P 134208- %V 13 %N 5 %U {https://journal.hep.com.cn/fop/EN/10.1007/s11467-018-0817-8 %8 2018-10-19 %X

We investigate high-precision three-dimensional (3D) atom localization in a coherently-driven, fourlevel atomic system via spontaneous emission. Space-dependent atom-field interactions allow atomic position information to be obtained by measuring spontaneous emission. By properly varying system parameters, atoms within a certain range can be localized with nearly a probability of 100% and a maximal resolution of ~0.04λ. This scheme may be useful for the high-precision measurement of the center-of-mass wave functions of moving atoms and in atom nanolithography.