Towards p-wave superfluidity of fermionic erbium atoms in an optical lattice

Dipolar interactions of atoms in optical lattices provide a promising route towards realizing unconventional superfluid phases. Experiments with bosonic erbium in a small-spacing optical lattice have implemented an extended Hubbard model with dipole–dipole interactions, realizing quantum phase transitions from a superfluid to a variety of dipolar quantum solids. Building on this platform, we work towards assessing the feasibility of p-wave superfluidity of dipolar gases as loaded into a two-dimensional square lattice geometry.

Our study aims to provide initial quantitative benchmarks and guidance for future experiments towards realizing p-wave superfluidity with fermionic erbium, including indicative ranges of lattice depth and temperatures where p-wave correlations are expected to be most favorable. More broadly, this work contributes towards establishing a pathway from existing bosonic dipolar quantum solids to fermionic dipolar superfluids and, ultimately, to topological p-wave phases in optical lattices.