High sensitivity probe absorption technique for time-of-flight measurements on cold atoms

We report on a phase-sensitive probe absorption technique with high sensitivity, capable of detecting a few hundred ultra-cold atoms in flight in an observation time of a few milliseconds. The large signal-to-noise ratio achieved is sufficient for reliable measurements on low intensity beams of cold atoms. We demonstrate the high sensitivity and figure of merit of the simple method by measuring the time-of-flight of atoms moving upwards from a magneto-optical trap released in the gravitational field.