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arXiv:0803.2733 · Optics Express

Real-time control of the periodicity of a standing wave: an optical accordion

Tongcang Li, Hrishikesh Kelkar, David Medellín, Mark G. Raizen

Published Apr 3, 2008• 52 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We report an experimental method to create optical lattices with real-time control of their periodicity. We demonstrate a continuous change of the lattice periodicity from 0.96 microm to 11.2 microm in one second, while the center fringe only moves less than 2.7 microm during the whole process. This provides a powerful tool for controlling ultracold atoms in optical lattices, where small spacing is essential for quantum tunneling, and large spacing enables single-site manipulation and spatially resolved detection.

DOI
10.1364/oe.16.005465

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We report an experimental method to create optical lattices with real-time control of their periodicity. We demonstrate a continuous change of the lattice periodicity from 0.96 microm to 11.2 microm in one second, while the center fringe only moves less than 2.7 microm during the whole process. This provides a powerful tool for controlling ultracold atoms in optical lattices, where small spacing is essential for quantum tunneling, and large spacing enables single-site manipulation and spatially resolved detection.
Abstract We propose a method for separating trapped atoms in optical lattices by large distances. The key idea is the cyclic transfer of atoms between two lattices of variable spacing, known as accordion lattices, each covering at least a factor of two in lattice spacing. By coherently loading atoms between the two superimposed potentials, we can reach, in principle, arbitrarily large atom separations, while requiring only a relatively small numerical aperture. Numerical simulations of our ‘accordion superlattice’ show that the atoms remain localized to one lattice site throughout the separation process, even for moderate lattice depths. In a proof-of-principle experiment, we demonstrate the optical fields required for the accordion superlattice using acousto-optic deflectors. The method can be applied to neutral-atom quantum computing with optical tweezers, as well as quantum simulation of low-entropy many-body states. For instance, a unit-filling atomic Mott insulator can be coherently expanded by a factor of ten in order to load an optical tweezer array with very high filling. In turn, sorted tweezer arrays can be compressed to form high-density states of ultracold atoms in optical lattices. The method can also be applied to biological systems where dynamical separation of particles is required.
We experimentally realize two-dimensional (2D) single-layer ultracold gases of 87Rb by dynamically tuning the periodicity of a standing wave, known as accordion lattice. In order to load 87Rb Bose–Einstein condensate into single dark fringe node of the blue detuning optical lattice, we reduce the lattice periodicity from 26.7 μm to 3.5 μm with the help of an acousto-optic deflector (AOD) to compress the three-dimensional BEC adiabatically into a flat and uniform quasi-2D single-layer. We describe the experimental procedure of the atoms loading into the accordion lattice in detail and present the characteristics of the quasi-2D ultracold gases. This setup provides an important platform for studying in- and out-of equilibrium physics, phase transition and 2D topological matter.
The use of a dynamic ``accordion'' lattice with ultracold atoms is demonstrated. Ultracold atoms of 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb are trapped in a two-dimensional optical lattice, and the spacing of the lattice is then increased in both directions from 2.2 to 5.5 $\ensuremath{\mu}$m. Atoms remain bound for expansion times as short as a few milliseconds, and the experimentally measured minimum ramp time is found to agree well with numerical calculations. This technique allows an experiment such as quantum simulations to be performed with a lattice spacing smaller than the resolution limit of the imaging system, while allowing imaging of the atoms at individual lattice sites by subsequent expansion of the optical lattice.
We present experimental techniques that employ an optical accordion lattice with dynamically tunable spacing to create and study bright matter-wave solitons in optical lattices. The system allows precise control of lattice parameters over a wide range of lattice spacings and depths. We detail calibration methods for the lattice parameters which are adjusted to the varying lattice spacing, and we demonstrate site-resolved atom number preparation via microwave addressing. Lattice solitons are generated through rapid quenches of the atomic interaction strength and the external trapping potential. We systematically optimize the quench parameters, such as duration and final scattering length, to maximize soliton stability. Our results provide insight into nonlinear matter-wave dynamics in discretized systems and establish a versatile platform for the controlled study of lattice solitons.
The long range goal of this project was the creation of nanostructures using light fields to manipulate atoms. By passing an atomic beam through one or more standing wave light fields, it is possible to create modulations in the atomic density having periods which are a fraction of the period of the standing wave light fields. Patterns having periods as small as lambda/10 were observed using optical masks and clear evidence for matter-wave effects were established. Several theoretical methods for achieving sub-lambda matter wave patterns were developed, Moreover it was shown that it is possible to create optical lattices having reduced periodicity using Raman transitions in a novel atom-field geometry Experiments were carried out in both magneto-optical traps and atomic beams. In both experimental set-ups, pulsed standing wave optical fields were used to excite the atoms. At some later time the atoms were probed by a traveling wave field, revealing the spatial patterns that had evolved as a result of the atom-field interaction.
The scope of the present publication-based thesis on periodically forced optical lattices is twofold: In the first part, the reader is introduced to the main concepts required to formulate the central results of this thesis, and a review is given of landmark papers on coherently controlling ultracold atoms by subjecting them to periodic forces. The second part provides the author's own results of original research on the subject and consists of four publications and a preprint. It is shown how ultracold atoms in optical lattices can be used as strong-field simulators, dynamic localization in optical lattices are described in detail, and multiphoton-like processes are studied. A generalized acceleration theorem for spatiotemporal Bloch waves is developed and used to enable a controlled wave-packet manipulation in optical lattices.