Experimental Probe of Antiferromagnetic Ordering of $^6$Li in an Optical Lattice

We have developed an apparatus to probe magnetic ordering in $^6$Li using a spin mixture of magnetic sub-levels from the lowest hyperfine state. The degenerate Fermi gas is prepared all optically by loading and evaporative cooling in a high-power optical trap. Our primary goal is the observation of antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering predicted for an equal spin mixture in a three dimensional lattice with one fermion per site. To identify the AFM phase we will use a near resonant laser to Bragg scatter from the (${\scriptstyle{^1\!/_2}\,{^1\!/_2}\,{^1\!/_2}}$) lattice plane. A robust control system has been established to vary parameters such as spin polarization, atomic interaction, and lattice depth to extend this system in the future to different lattice geometries.