Overview

• MIT scientists developed an atom-resolved microscopy technique that freezes freely interacting atoms with a lattice of light and images them using laser-induced fluorescence.
• The team captured the first-ever direct images of bosons forming de Broglie waves and fermions pairing, confirming long-predicted quantum behaviors.
• This method surpasses conventional imaging techniques by revealing individual atom positions and interactions, rather than just the overall structure of atomic clouds.
• The findings, published in *Physical Review Letters*, have been independently validated by research groups led by Wolfgang Ketterle at MIT and Tarik Yefsah at ENS.
• Researchers plan to use the technique to explore more complex quantum phenomena, including the elusive quantum Hall effect.