Towards Quantum Simulation with magnetic lattices

Seminar

We use nano-lithography techniques to create lattice potentials in permanent magnetic films at atom chips. These lattices can be created over a large range of length scales and are used to trap mesoscopic clouds of ultracold atoms. In our current experiments we use a 10 micron lattice spacing to study Rydberg physics with clouds up to 400 atoms. In parallel, we are downscaling the lattice spacing for a new series of experiments. On these new atom chips we created lattices with lattice spacing varying from 250nm up to 5um on the same chip. I will discuss but the current experiments and the fabrication of these new magnetic potentials. These chips were then patterned by e-beam lithography and etched with an Ar plasma to obtain structures with a 20nm resolution. This technique can extend the range of length scales of optical lattices to both smaller and larger sizes, and can be used to study degenerate gases in new regimes and environments. Also geometrical interfaces have been constructed to study the role of disorder, frustration and dimensionality for atoms on a lattice. Recently we develloped new magnetic Rectangular, Kagome and Hexagonal potentials that we will use in our quantum simulation experiments.

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