Strongly interacting fermions in a 1D optical lattice

ORAL

Abstract

Strongly correlated fermions in an array of two-dimensional planes coupled via tunneling serve as an important model system for high-temperature superconductors and layered organic conductors. We realize this model using ultracold fermionic $^6$Li atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice near a Feshbach resonance. The depth of the lattice controls the interlayer coupling, and tunes the system between three and two dimensions. Pairing between fermions is studied using radio-frequency spectroscopy. The binding energy of fermion pairs is determined along the dimensional crossover and for different interaction strengths through the BEC-BCS crossover.

*This work was supported by the NSF, AFOSR-MURI, ARO-MURI, ONR, DARPA YFA, a grant from the Army Research Office with funding from the DARPA OLE program, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Authors

  • Ariel Sommer

    • Department of Physics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
    • Department of Physics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridg
  • Lawrence Cheuk

    • Department of Physics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
    • Department of Physics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridg
  • Mark Ku

    • Department of Physics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
    • Department of Physics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridg
  • Waseem Bakr

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • Department of Physics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
    • Department of Physics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridg
  • Tarik Yefsah

    • Department of Physics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
    • Department of Physics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridg
  • Martin Zwierlein

    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • Department of Physics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
    • Department of Physics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridg