Quantum Gas Microscope for Fermionic Atoms

POSTER

Abstract

Strongly interacting fermions define the properties of complex matter throughout nature, from atomic nuclei and modern solid state materials to neutron stars. Ultracold atomic Fermi gases have emerged as a pristine platform for the study of many-fermion systems. In this poster we demonstrate the realization of a quantum gas microscope for fermionic $^{\mathrm{40}}$K atoms trapped in an optical lattice and the recent experiments which allows one to probe strongly correlated fermions at the single atom level. We combine 3D Raman sideband cooling with high- resolution optics to simultaneously cool and image individual atoms with single lattice site resolution at a detection fidelity above 95{\%}. The imaging process leaves the atoms predominantly in the 3D motional ground state of their respective lattice sites, inviting the implementation of a Maxwell's demon to assemble low-entropy many-body states. Single-site resolved imaging of fermions enables the direct observation of magnetic order, time resolved measurements of the spread of particle correlations, and the detection of many-fermion entanglement.

*NSF, AFOSR-PECASE, AFOSR-MURI on Exotic Phases of Matter, ARO-MURI on Atomtronics, ONR, a grant from the Army Research Office with funding from the DARPA OLE program, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation

Authors

  • Melih Okan

    • Massachusetts Inst of Tech-MIT
    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Lawrence Cheuk

    • Massachusetts Inst of Tech-MIT
    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Matthew Nichols

    • Massachusetts Inst of Tech-MIT
    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Katherine Lawrence

    • Massachusetts Inst of Tech-MIT
    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Hao Zhang

    • Massachusetts Inst of Tech-MIT
    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Martin Zwierlein

    • Massachusetts Inst of Tech-MIT
    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    • MIT