This report describes the successful construction of a system which will be used for investigations of 1D Fermi gases and the 2D Hubbard model. An entirely new apparatus was constructed that is capable of rapidly producing quantum degenerate Fermi gases. This work resulted in the development of a new all-solid state laser source for red laser light which can be used for lithium spectroscopy and may be useful in other applications such as color displays, photodynamic therapy, and a pump for Cr:LiSAF lasers. This work also led to new insights into how high-power multi-longitudinal mode fiber lasers can be used for preparing quantum degenerate atomic gases. Finally, a method for preparing Fermi gases in an optical lattice at exceptionally low temperature was proposed. The low temperatures attainable with this technique will permit exploration of the 2D Hubbard's model's phase diagram in a regime where d-wave-paired superfluidity may be expected. Future experiments made possible by results of this work should give us new insights into electron transport in nanowires and the mechanism for high-temperature superconductivity in cuprate materials.
This report describes the successful construction of a system which will be used for investigations of 1D Fermi gases and the 2D Hubbard model. An entirely new apparatus was constructed that is capable of rapidly producing quantum degenerate Fermi gases. This work resulted in the development of a new all-solid state laser source for red laser light which can be used for lithium spectroscopy and may be useful in other applications such as color displays, photodynamic therapy, and a pump for Cr:LiSAF lasers. This work also led to new insights into how high-power multi-longitudinal mode fiber lasers can be used for preparing quantum degenerate atomic gases. Finally, a method for preparing Fermi gases in an optical lattice at exceptionally low temperature was proposed. The low temperatures attainable with this technique will permit exploration of the 2D Hubbard's model's phase diagram in a regime where d-wave-paired superfluidity may be expected. Future experiments made possible by results of this work should give us new insights into electron transport in nanowires and the mechanism for high-temperature superconductivity in cuprate materials.
This thesis describes experiments performed on a gas of lithium atoms in an optical lattice which are relevant to the low-temperature physics of the Hubbard model. The Hubbard model is perhaps the most intensively studied model of fermionic particles on a lattice, both because it is the simplest such model which seriously challenges modern theoretical tools, and because it is a candidate model for describing high-temperature superconductivity in cuprate materials. The challenges associated with numerical simulations of the Hubbard model have motivated “quantum simulations” of the type described in this thesis, in which a well-controlled physical system is engineered to mimic the model, allowing its properties to be determined through experiments. Historically, however, such experiments could not access the low-temperature regime of the Hubbard model most relevant to open questions on materials like cuprates, where modern computational techniques cannot yet definitively characterize the physics. We developed a novel set of cooling techniques which allowed our experiment to access this regime. These techniques are based on adiabatic conversion between a band insulator, which can be prepared with very low entropies using single-atom-resolved control and detection techniques now common in ultracold atomic physics, and various quantum fluids, including Hubbard systems. We then performed the first experiments in this new regime of the Hubbard model, focusing on the anomalous “pseudogapped” metallic state. This state is predicted to exist by computational methods, and is believed to mimic the eponymous state in cuprates which gives rise to high-temperature superconductivity upon cooling. Nevertheless, its properties and mechanisms remain poorly understood. We developed several new measurements that enabled an observation of the pseudogap and which yielded novel data on its thermodynamics, linking the pseudogap to an anomaly in the equation of state. These experiments demonstrate a new mode of operating fermionic quantum gas experiments, in which single-atom-resolved controls, rather than bulk techniques like evaporative cooling, are leveraged to access low temperatures in a sample of several hundred atoms. They also signal the arrival of quantum simulators in a regime of poorly-understood emergent low-temperature phenomena that are relevant to the electronic properties of solids, concretely demonstrating the utility of quantum simulation in addressing frontier problems in quantum many-body physics.
Ultracold atomic gases provide a fantastic platform to implement quantum simulators and investigate a variety of models initially introduced in condensed matter physics or other areas. One of the most promising applications of quantum simulation is the study of strongly correlated Fermi gases, for which exact theoretical results are not always possible with state-of-the-art approaches. Here, we review recent progress of the quantum simulation of the emblematic Fermi–Hubbard model with ultracold atoms. After introducing the Fermi–Hubbard model in the context of condensed matter, its implementation in ultracold atom systems, and its phase diagram, we review landmark experimental achievements, from the early observation of the onset of quantum degeneracy and superfluidity to the demonstration of the Mott insulator regime and the emergence of long-range anti-ferromagnetic order. We conclude by discussing future challenges, including the possible observation of high- T c superconductivity, transport properties, and the interplay of strong correlations and disorder or topology.
A major focus in condensed matter physics is to study the origin of exotic quantum phases such as coexistent and inhomogeneous phases, quantum criticality, and secondary ordered phases close to quantum critical points. Exotic phenomena in strongly correlated systems occur due to competing complex interactions of spin, charge, lattice, and orbital degrees of freedom. Complex quantum phases in strongly correlated systems are challenging, but they might be very useful due to their possible functionality to make advance devices. In order to understand, utilize, and optimize such behaviors, we need to improve our understanding of these systems. Studies in cold atom systems are of interest since cold atom experiments provide a control on model parameters. In this thesis, we use novel analytical and computational techniques to treat strongly interacting bosonic systems. Taking advantage of the very versatile quantum Monte Carlo Stochastic Green Function algorithm, we studied several interesting problems. First, we explore a recently developed new confining method for cold atoms on optical lattices. Atoms are confined via a hopping integral that decreases as a function of the distance from the center of the lattice. This method might lead to lower temperatures than existing diagonal confinement methods. Next, we study the ground state phase diagram of interacting bosons on a ring-shape lattice with a region of weak hopping integrals. The model, an extension of the well known Bose-Hubbard model, develops a novel local Mott phase in addition to the usual Mott and superfluid phases in the homogeneous system. This might provide a new insight to the description of atomtronics applications. Finally, we study the two species Bose Hubbard model in a two-dimensional lattice. This model presents novel phases due to the complexity associated with multiple species. Its phase diagram shows ordered and coexistence phases including a ferromagnetic phase separated phase with high entropy. This phase might be accessible experimentally. The novel phases found from our studies are linked to experiments on ultra-cold atoms trapped by laser beams.
This thesis presents novel techniques for the experimental study of ultracold quantum gases of fermionic lithium and potassium atoms.In the first part of this thesis, we describe the design and characterization of the new components of our experimental apparatus capable of trapping and cooling simultaneously 6Li and 40K atoms to ultracold temperatures.We report on a novel sub-Doppler cooling mechanism, operating on the D1 line transition of alkali atoms, for laser cooling of lithium and potassium. The measured phase space densities after this molasses phase are on the order of 10−4 for both 6Li and 40K. We present the forced evaporative cooling of 40K atoms, starting in an optically plugged magnetic quadrupole trap and continuing in an optical dipole trap. In this context, we report on the production of a quantum degenerate Fermi gas of 1.5×105 atoms 40K in a crossed dipole trap with T/TF=0.17, paving the way for the study of strongly interacting superfluids of 40K.In the second part of this thesis, we present a narrow-linewidth, all-solid-state laser source, emitting 5.2 W in the vicinity of the lithium D-line transitions at 671 nm. The source is based on a diode-end-pumped unidirectional ring laser operating on the 1342 nm transition of Nd:YVO4, capable of producing 6.5 W of single-mode light delivered in a diffraction-limited beam. We report on three different approaches for second-haromonic generation of its output beam, namely by employing an enhancement cavity containing a ppKTP crystal, intracavity frequency doubling and a ppZnO:LN waveguide structure.
Exotic phenomena in strongly correlated electron systems emerge from the interplay between spin and motional degrees of freedom. For example, doping an antiferromagnet is expected to give rise to pseudogap states and high-temperature superconductors. Quantum simulation with ultracold fermions in optical lattices offers the potential to answer open questions about the doped Hubbard Hamiltonian, and has recently been advanced by quantum gas microscopy. In order to take advantage of these possibilities, a stable, high-power, 2D square lattice system was developed and coupled with an image plane based spatial light modulator. The ability to finely tune the atomic potential has made it possible to realize an antiferromagnet in a repulsively interacting Fermi gas on a 2D square lattice. At our lowest temperatures of T/t=0.25(2), antiferromagnetic long-range order (LRO) manifests through the divergence of the correlation length that reaches the size of the system, the development of a peak in the spin structure factor and a value of the staggered magnetization approaching the ground state value. Similarly, by carefully shaping the confinement, we have produced ultra-low entropy band insulators, which promise to be a perfect starting point for more advanced cooling schemes. In addition to the production of new states, Fermi gas microscopy is superbly well suited to studies of many-body dynamics. To this end I report on preliminary measurements of the propagation of holes in a Mott insualtor. These results demonstrate that Fermi gas microscopy can address open questions on the low-temperature Hubbard model.
Recent experiments on quantum degenerate gases give an opportunity for simulating strongly-correlated electronic systems in optical lattices. It may shed light on some long-standing puzzles in condensed-matter physics, like the nature of high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates that had baffled people over two decades. It is believed that the two-dimensional fermionic Hubbard model, or t-J model, contains the key to this problem; but the difficulty of unveiling the mystery of a strongly-interacting fermionic system is also generally acknowledged. Here, as a substitute, we systematically analyze the property of bosonic t-J model simulated in optical superlattices near unit-filling. In particular, we show the emergence of a strange topological Fermi liquid with Fermi surfaces from a purely bosonic system. We also discuss the possibility of observing these phenomena in ultracold atom experiments. The result may provide some crucial insights into the origin of high-T_{c} superconductivity.