Single-Shot Imaging of Bose-Einstein Condensed Photon Gas Using the iXon Ultra 897 EMCCD Camera

This application note describes an experiment where Bose-Einstein condensed photon gas is thermalized to room temperature, and imaged using an EMCCD camera. Bose-Einstein condensation, the macroscopic ground state population of a system of integer spin particles below a critical temperature, has in the last 20 years been observed for cold atomic gases and solid state quasiparticles as exciton polaritons. The most widely known example of a photonic gas, blackbody radiation, however exhibits no Bose-Einstein condensation. The results of this experiment hold prospects for the exploration of novel states of light, e.g. also in periodic potentials, and for light sources in new wavelength regimes.