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arXiv:physics/9909020 · Physical Review Letters

Quantum Point Contacts for Neutral Atoms

Joseph H. Thywissen, Robert M. Westervelt, Mara Goff Prentiss

Published Nov 8, 1999• 61 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We show that the conductance of atoms through a tightly confining waveguide constriction is quantized in units of ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{dB}}^{2}/\ensuremath{\pi}$, where ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{dB}}$ is the de Broglie wavelength of the incident atoms. Such a constriction forms the atom analog of an electron quantum point contact and is an example of quantum transport of neutral atoms in an aperiodic system. We present a practical constriction geometry that can be realized using a microfabricated magnetic waveguide, and discuss how a pair of such constrictions can be used to study the quantum statistics of weakly interacting gases in small traps.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.83.3762

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We show that the conductance of atoms through a tightly confining waveguide constriction is quantized in units of \ensuremathλdB2/\ensuremathπ{\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{dB}}^{2}/\ensuremath{\pi}\ensuremathλdB2​/\ensuremathπ, where \ensuremathλdB{\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathrm{dB}}\ensuremathλdB​ is the de Broglie wavelength of the incident atoms. Such a constriction forms the atom analog of an electron quantum point contact and is an example of quantum transport of neutral atoms in an aperiodic system. We present a practical constriction geometry that can be realized using a microfabricated magnetic waveguide, and discuss how a pair of such constrictions can be used to study the quantum statistics of weakly interacting gases in small traps.
We have devised a way to trap atoms above a magnetic surface using the Zeeman effect. The method is generally applicable to any paramagnetic atom with hyperfine structure and results in very strong confinement and, hence, a high vibrational frequency perpendicular to the surface. This allows the atomic de Broglie wave to propagate as in a single-mode 2D waveguide. We show how atoms can be continuously and unidirectionally coupled with high efficiency into the lowest mode of the waveguide. This invention makes possible the study of weakly interacting gases in 2D.
Transport measurement is an important tool for studying the fundamental properties of matter. Among them, transport through quantum point contacts is a very interesting phenomenon in mesoscopic physics. In non-interacting or weakly interacting Fermi systems, the conductivity exhibits quantized behavior as a function of gate voltage, revealing the quantum nature of matter. In recent years, transport in cold atomic systems has become one of the frontiers in this field. Cold atomic systems have highly are controllable and exhibit many novel phases, leading to new experimental phenomena that cannot be observed in traditional material physics. This article will review some of the latest experimental progress in transport through quantum point contacts in cold atomic Fermi gases, and will also introduce the non-equilibrium field theoretical methods commonly used to study this system.
Quantum transport is ubiquitous in physics. So far, quantum transport between terminals has been extensively studied in solid state systems from the fundamental point of views such as the quantized conductance to the applications to quantum devices. Recent works have demonstrated a cold-atom analog of a mesoscopic conductor by engineering a narrow conducting channel with optical potentials, which opens the door for a wealth of research of atomtronics emulating mesoscopic electronic devices and beyond. Here we realize an alternative scheme of the quantum transport experiment with ytterbium atoms in a two-orbital optical lattice system. Our system consists of a multi-component Fermi gas and a localized impurity, where the current can be created in the spin space by introducing the spin-dependent interaction with the impurity. We demonstrate a rich variety of localized-impurity-induced quantum transports, which paves the way for atomtronics exploiting spin degrees of freedom.
We propose a method by which the quantization of the Hall conductance can be directly measured in the transport of a one-dimensional atomic gas. Our approach builds on two main ingredients: (1) a constriction optical potential, which generates a mesoscopic channel connected to two reservoirs, and (2) a time-periodic modulation of the channel specifically designed to generate motion along an additional synthetic dimension. This fictitious dimension is spanned by the harmonic oscillator modes associated with the tightly confined channel, and hence, the corresponding “lattice sites” are intimately related to the energy of the system. We analyze the quantum-transport properties of this hybrid two-dimensional system, highlighting the appealing features offered by the synthetic dimension. In particular, we demonstrate how the energetic nature of the synthetic dimension combined with the quasienergy spectrum of the periodically driven channel allows for the direct and unambiguous observation of the quantized Hall effect in a two-reservoir geometry. Our work illustrates how topological properties of matter can be accessed in a minimal one-dimensional setup, with direct and practical experimental consequences.
We consider the quantized motion of neutral atoms at very low temperature in a two-dimensional magnetic quadrupole structure formed, for example, by four current-carrying wires along the z direction. The magnetic field B\mathbf{B}B in the guide is proportional to the vector $(x,\ensuremath{-}y).$ We show that this field can be used to make a single-mode atomic de Broglie waveguide which has bound states of low angular momentum, even though the field at the center of the guide goes to zero. We investigate the spectrum and decay rate of the transverse modes for spin-1/2 and spin-1 atoms.