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arXiv:1012.0845 · Physical Review Letters

Probing Nearest-Neighbor Correlations of Ultracold Fermions in an Optical Lattice

Daniel Greif, Leticia Tarruell, Thomas Uehlinger, Robert Jördens, Tilman Esslinger

Published Apr 5, 2011• 102 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We demonstrate a probe for nearest-neighbor correlations of fermionic quantum gases in optical lattices. It gives access to spin and density configurations of adjacent sites and relies on creating additional doubly occupied sites by perturbative lattice modulation. The measured correlations for different lattice temperatures are in good agreement with an ab initio calculation without any fitting parameters. This probe opens new prospects for studying the approach to magnetically ordered phases.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.106.145302

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We demonstrate a probe for nearest-neighbor correlations of fermionic quantum gases in optical lattices. It gives access to spin and density configurations of adjacent sites and relies on creating additional doubly occupied sites by perturbative lattice modulation. The measured correlations for different lattice temperatures are in good agreement with an ab initio calculation without any fitting parameters. This probe opens new prospects for studying the approach to magnetically ordered phases.
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We suggest two experimental methods for probing both short- and long-range spin correlations of atoms in optical lattices using superlattice potentials. The first method involves an adiabatic doubling of the periodicity of the underlying lattice to probe neighboring singlet (triplet) correlations for fermions (bosons) by the occupation of the resulting vibrational ground state. The second method utilizes a time-dependent superlattice potential to generate spin-dependent transport by any number of prescribed lattice sites, and probes correlations by the resulting number of doubly occupied sites. For experimentally relevant parameters, we demonstrate how both methods yield large signatures of antiferromagnetic correlations of strongly repulsive fermionic atoms in a single shot of the experiment. Lastly, we show how this method may also be applied to probe ddd-wave pairing, a possible ground-state candidate for the doped repulsive Hubbard model.
Ultracold atoms in optical lattices provide a versatile platform for studying many-body physics in a defect-free system with tunable parameters. For the analog quantum simulation of the Fermi-Hubbard model, fermionic atoms take on the role of the valence electrons and optical lattices provide the periodic potential in place of the solid-state crystal. The dynamics in the system are described by the tunneling amplitude t between neighboring lattice sites and the interaction energy U of two particles occupying the same lattice site. With the depth of the optical lattices and an external magnetic field, both parameters can be tuned to access a wide range of regimes. Two superimposed lattices with different lattice periods form an optical superlattice, where the most common configuration is a bichromatic superlattice with lattice periods different by a factor of two. Depending on the lattice depths and the relative phase of the lattices, the bichromatic superlattice potential ranges from an array of weakly-coupled double wells to a continuous lattice potential with a staggered energy offset. We developed a calibration technique for measuring the depth of an optical lattice with local resolution. The band structure of the optical lattice is probed by modulating the lattice depth and exciting the atoms to higher bands. However, compared to resolving the band occupations in a time-of-flight measurement, we further excite the atoms to an untrapped band to deplete the optical lattice along equipotential lines where the modulation frequency is resonant with the local band transitions. From the profile of the lattice depth, we obtain the calibration factor for the power regulation, the waist of the underlying lattice beams and the position of the lattice axis. This technique combines several calibration measurements, thereby reducing the measurement time and enabling an automation of the lattice alignment. For the bichromatic superlattice we realized an active stabilization of the superlattice phase that enables long-term measurements with a precise control over the superlattice phase. The instability of the superlattice phase is a result of the different refractive indices for the two lattices in air and the optical elements along the optical path. Using environmental sensors, we monitor the temperature, the pressure, and the relative humidity to apply the expected correction to the superlattice phase. The stabilized superlattice phase enabled the investigation of Floquet-driven double wells by modulating the energy offset through the superlattice phase. We used a near-resonant driving frequency with respect to the interaction energy to enhance the pair-tunneling amplitude in doubly-occupied double wells compared to static double wells and compared to the tunneling amplitude in singly-occupied double wells.
Quantum magnetism originates from the exchange coupling between quantum mechanical spins. Here, we report on the observation of nearest-neighbor magnetic correlations emerging in the many-body state of a thermalized Fermi gas in an optical lattice. The key to obtaining short-range magnetic order is a local redistribution of entropy, which allows temperatures below the exchange energy for a subset of lattice bonds. When loading a repulsively interacting gas into either dimerized or anisotropic simple cubic configurations of a tunable-geometry lattice, we observe an excess of singlets as compared with triplets consisting of two opposite spins. For the anisotropic lattice, the transverse spin correlator reveals antiferromagnetic correlations along one spatial axis. Our work facilitates addressing open problems in quantum magnetism through the use of quantum simulation.
Low temperatures are necessary for the observation of strongly correlated quantum phases of fermionic atoms in optical lattices. We analyze how the temperature of a Fermi gas is altered when the fermions are loaded into an optical lattice with an underlying harmonic confining potential, and show how the temperature can be measured. The temperature of the atoms in the optical lattice determines the fraction of doubly occupied lattice sites of a two-component Fermi gas. We analytically calculate this quantity and find a strong temperature dependence. This fraction can be measured by studying the production of molecules in the lattice using a Feshbach resonance, which allows for precise thermometry of atoms in an optical lattice.
The exchange coupling between quantum mechanical spins lies at the origin of quantum magnetism. We report on the observation of nearest-neighbor magnetic spin correlations emerging in the many-body state of a thermalized Fermi gas in an optical lattice. The key to obtaining short-range magnetic order is a local redistribution of entropy within the lattice structure. This is achieved in a tunable-geometry optical lattice, which also enables the detection of the magnetic correlations. We load a low-temperature two-component Fermi gas with repulsive interactions into either a dimerized or an anisotropic simple cubic lattice. For both systems the correlations manifest as an excess number of singlets as compared to triplets consisting of two atoms with opposite spins. For the anisotropic lattice, we determine the transverse spin correlator from the singlet-triplet imbalance and observe antiferromagnetic correlations along one spatial axis. Our work paves the way for addressing open problems in quantum magnetism using ultracold fermions in optical lattices as quantum simulators.