Designer optical control of interactions in ultracold atomic gases has wide applications, from creating new quantum phases to modeling the physics of black holes. We demonstrate wide tunability and spatial control of interactions in a two-component cloud of ^{6}Li fermions, using electromagnetically induced transparency. With two control fields detuned ≃1.5 THz from atomic resonance, megahertz changes in the frequency of one optical beam tune the measured scattering length over the full range achieved by magnetic control, with negligible (10^{-6}) effect on the net optical confining potential. A 1D "sandwich" of resonantly and weakly interacting regions is imprinted on the trapped cloud and broadly manipulated with sub-MHz frequency changes. All of the data are in excellent agreement with our continuum-dressed state theoretical model of optical control, which includes both the spatial and momentum dependence of the scattering amplitude.
Designer optical control of interactions in ultracold atomic gases has wide applications, from creating new quantum phases to modeling the physics of black holes. We demonstrate wide tunability and spatial control of interactions in a two-component cloud of ^{6}Li fermions, using electromagnetically induced transparency. With two control fields detuned ≃1.5 THz from atomic resonance, megahertz changes in the frequency of one optical beam tune the measured scattering length over the full range achieved by magnetic control, with negligible (10^{-6}) effect on the net optical confining potential. A 1D "sandwich" of resonantly and weakly interacting regions is imprinted on the trapped cloud and broadly manipulated with sub-MHz frequency changes. All of the data are in excellent agreement with our continuum-dressed state theoretical model of optical control, which includes both the spatial and momentum dependence of the scattering amplitude.
This thesis reports on the first observation of optical tuning of interactions in an ultracold atomic gas. To control the elastic interactions, we use optically induced scattering resonances. They are realized by coupling pairs of atoms to a bound molecular state with the help of laser light. In comparison to the well-known magnetic Feshbach resonances, these optical Feshbach resonances allow a very fast switching of interactions in a spatially resolved way. This is because laser light can be switched on and off much faster than magnetic fields and because the light intensity can be spatially structured. Our experiments are performed with a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of Rb atoms, which we produce in our new BEC setup. This apparatus has been constructed in the framework of this thesis and offers excellent optical access to the ultracold atom cloud. To investigate the tunability of atomic interactions with single-frequency laser light, we optically couple pairs of free atoms to an electronically excited molecular state. The coupling is achieved with a laser that is tuned close to the respective free-bound photoassociation transition. By changing the laser detuning we are able to adjust the atomic scattering length to any value between 10 a0 and 190 a0, where a0 denotes the Bohr radius. The atomic scattering length is a single quantity that fully describes ultracold elastic interactions. Since laser induced atom losses restrict the duration of our experiments, Bragg spectroscopy is employed as a fast method to measure the scattering length. We also demonstrate that optical Feshbach resonances can be realized with a two-color Raman coupling scheme. To implement this scheme, a second laser is added that couples the excited molecular state to a weakly bound molecular level in a ground state potential. Tuning the second laser results in a modification of the atomic scattering length similar to the one observed with a single laser. In addition, this scheme allows to control the width of the resonance via the detuning of the first laser. For the one-color and two-color coupling schemes, we investigate how the elastic scattering properties depend on the different available parameters, i.e. the laser detunings and intensities. Our experimental findings can successfully be described with an available theoretical model, which treats ultracold collisions in the presence of laser light. Optical Feshbach resonances have the possibility of becoming a valuable tool for fast switching of interactions. This is of special interest in quantum computation schemes with neutral atoms, where interactions between different atomic qubits need to be controlled.
This Thesis describes new mechanisms for controlling elastic and inelastic collisions of ultracold atoms and molecules with static electromagnetic and laser fields. The dynamical properties of ultracold atoms are usually tuned in experiments by applying an external magnetic field to induce a Feshbach resonance. The work presented in this Thesis demonstrates the possibility of inducing and manipulating Feshbach resonances with electric fields. We discuss in detail the mechanisms of electric-field-induced resonances in ultracold mixtures of alkali metal atoms and demonstrate that electric fields may shift and split the magnetic resonances. We show that electric fields may spin up the collision complex of ultracold atoms and induce anisotropic scattering which may be exploited in experiments on many-body dynamics of ultracold gaseous mixtures. The mechanisms of electric-field-induced resonances described in this Thesis allow for two-dimensional control of inter-particle interactions, leading to total control over ultracold gases. To guide future experiments, we generate accurate interaction potentials for ultracold Li--Rb mixtures by fitting positions and widths of experimentally measured Feshbach resonances. Ultracold atomic and molecular gases can be confined by laser fields in one or two dimensions which produces an optical lattice of ultracold particles. We develop a multichannel scattering theory for collisions of atoms and molecules in two dimensions and explore the effects of the confining laser potential on inelastic and reactive collisions of ultracold atoms and molecules in a 1D optical lattice. We show that ultracold collisions can be controlled in a quasi-2D geometry by varying the orientation of a magnetic field with respect to the confinement plane normal and demonstrate that the threshold energy dependence of cross sections for inelastic collisions in an optical lattice can be tuned by varying the confining potential and the magnetic field. Our results show that applying laser confinement in one dimension may stabilize ultracold systems with large scattering lengths, which may open up interesting opportunities for studies of ultracold controlled chemistry and might lead to a new research direction of ultracold chemistry in restricted geometries.
The exquisite control of diluted atomic vapors that can be achieved using electromagnetic (em) fields triggered the overwhelming development of researches on ultracold (T<<1millikelvin) quantum gases through laser cooling and trapping, opening ways to amazing applications in quantum technologies. For a composite system like a molecule under such ultracold conditions, the additional control of the internal degrees of freedom has also been recently demonstrated [1] with cw visible, microwave, and radio radiation frequencies for electronic, rotational, and hyperfine transitions, respectively. Vibrational transitions could be addressed with THz transitions, as an attractive path for controlling the interatomic interactions and creating ultracold gases of a wide class of diatomic molecules in their absolute ground state. More specifically, THz radiation can induce a coupling between the bound level of a pair of trapped ultracold ground-state atoms and a loosely-bound vibrational level of the related molecular electronic ground state. This coupling, generated by the intrinsic permanent electric dipole moment of a heteronuclear atomic pair (RbSr in the present work), is related to a specific spectroscopic feature of the atomic pair dressed by the THz field, the Laser Assisted Self-Induced Feshbach Resonance (LASIFR) [2] . In analogy with magnetic Feshbach resonance, the scattering length can be controlled by tuning the THz radiation frequency around a LASIFR (see Fig (a)).
Scattering resonances are fundamental to many areas of physics, occurring across a wide range of energy scales. In ultracold quantum gases, magnetic Feshbach resonances have transformed quantum many-body research by enabling precise interaction control between atoms. Here, we demonstrate unprecedented control to engineer Feshbach resonances at tunable positions via Floquet driving in a lithium-6 (^{6}Li) atom gas, achieved through strong magnetic field modulation at megacycles per second frequencies. This periodic modulation creates scattering resonances whenever dressed molecular levels cross the atomic threshold. By adding a second modulation at twice the base frequency, we tune the asymmetry of resonance loss profiles and suppress two-body losses from Floquet heating. This technique enhances control over atomic interactions, expanding possibilities for quantum simulations of complex systems and studies of exotic quantum phases.
This thesis reports on a novel scheme for controlling the scattering properties of an ultracold atomic gas with laser light. We show theoretically and experimentally that light near-resonant with a molecular bound-to-bound transition can be used to shift the magnetic field at which a magnetic Feshbach resonance occurs. This makes it possible to tune the interaction strength with laser light and at the same time induce considerably less loss than an optical Feshbach resonance would do. To find an appropriate bound-to-bound transition for this scheme, we perform excited-state spectroscopy. When applying laser light resonant with one such bound-to-bound transition we observe an Autler-Townes splitting of the magnetic Feshbach resonance. We find good agreement between the theoretical model and experimental data. Our scheme can be used for a variety of future applications. For example, light patterns created by holographic masks could serve as a tool for changing the scattering length of ultracold atoms on very short time and length scales.
In this habilitation-thesis a collection of 14 experiments is presented. In these experiments we have developed and used novel techniques to control ultracold gases on the quantum level. In brief, Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) and degenerate Fermi gases of laser-cooled alkali atoms are subjected to specially designed optical and magnetic fields. The fields influence in a coherent way the behavior, properties and dynamics of the gases. On this basis we developed tools to prepare, coherently manipulate, and analyze pre-defined quantum states. With this high level of control, it was possible to investigate interesting physics phenomena, and we were able to achieve several breakthroughs in the field of ultracold atoms. Highlights of our experimental results include the demonstration of phase engineering of a BEC wavefunction where we created solitons in a BEC and studied their propagation. In another experiment we constructed a spatially resolved matter wave interferometer with which we mapped out the phase distribution on a condensate. Illuminating the BEC with a periodic pattern, i.e. an optical lattice, allowed us to study solid states physics phenomena. In a second set of experiments we demonstrated optically tuning of the interaction between atoms with optical Feshbach resonances. Employing either magnetically tunable Feshbach resonances or laser radiation, we were able to produce ground state molecules in well defined quantum states. This led to the production of the first molecular BEC. By tuning the coupling of atom pairs in a Fermi gas of atoms, we could for the first time investigate the so-called BEC-BCS crossover which describes the continuous change from a BEC superfluid to a Bardeen-Cooper Schrieffer (BCS) superfluid. Due to the excellent control on the quantum level, the developed cold atom techniques open up intriguing prospects for future applications and experiments. They represent a general tool box to investigate fundamental physical phenomena in a pure and undisturbed environment. In the future, cold atoms might serve as a testing ground for fundamental theories or as quantum simulators for complex systems.