Highly Controllable and Robust 2D Spin-Orbit Coupling for Quantum Gases
Wei Sun, Bao‐Zong Wang, Xiaotian Xu +7 more
We report the realization of a robust and highly controllable two-dimensional (2D) spin-orbit (SO) coupling with a topological nontrivial band structure. By applying a retro-reflected 2D optical lattice, phase tunable Raman couplings are formed into the antisymmetric Raman lattice structure, and generate the 2D SO coupling with precise inversion and C_{4} symmetries, leading to considerably enlarged topological regions. The lifetime of the 2D SO coupled Bose-Einstein condensate reaches several seconds, which enables exploring fine-tuning interaction effects. These essential advantages of the present new realization open the door to explore exotic quantum many-body effects and nonequilibrium dynamics with novel topology.
arXiv:1710.00717•Physical Review Letters•Oct 9, 2018•116 citations