F. Claude, L. Lafforgue, A. Houwman, M. J. Mark, F. Ferlaino Optical Manipulation of spin states in ultracold magnetic atoms via an inner-shell hz transition,
Phys. Rev. Research 6 L042016 (2024-10-18),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.L042016 doi:10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.L042016 (ID: 721339)
Toggle Abstract
Lanthanides, like erbium and dysprosium, have emerged as powerful platforms for quantum-gas research due to their diverse properties, including a significant large spin manifold in their absolute ground state. However, effectively exploiting the spin richness necessitates precise manipulation of spin populations, a challenge yet to be fully addressed in this class of atomic species. In this work, we present an all-optical method for deterministically controlling the spin composition of a dipolar bosonic erbium gas, based on a clocklike transition in the telecom window at 1299nm. The atoms can be prepared in just a few tens of microseconds in any spin-state composition using a sequence of Rabi-pulse pairs, selectively coupling Zeeman sublevels of the ground state with those of the long-lived clocklike state. Finally, we demonstrate that this transition can also be used to create spin-selective light shifts, thus fully suppressing spin-exchange collisions. These experimental results unlock exciting possibilities for implementing advanced spin models in isolated, clean, and fully controllable lattice systems.