Mainz 2017 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 53: Poster: Quantum Optics and Photonics III
Q 53.13: Poster
Thursday, March 9, 2017, 17:00–19:00, P OG2
Local control of transport in an atomic quantum wire: from one scanning gate to a finite size lattice — •Samuel Häusler1, Martin Lebrat1, Dominik Husmann1, Laura Corman1, Sebastian Krinner1, Shuta Nakajima2, Jean-Philippe Brantut1, and Tilman Esslinger1 — 1Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland — 2Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
Building on the holographic shaping of optical potentials and a high-resolution microscope, we demonstrate the local control of fermionic lithium atoms flowing through a one-dimensional structure. We first image the transport through a quantum wire, in a way similar to the scanning gate technique applied to solid state devices. By scanning the position of a sharp, repulsive optical gate over the wire and measuring the subsequent variations of conductance, we spatially map the transport at a resolution close to the transverse wavefunction inside the wire. The control of the gate at the scale of the Fermi wavelength makes it sensitive to quantum tunnelling. Furthermore, our knowledge of the optical potential allows a direct comparison of the experimental maps with a numerical and an analytical model for non-interacting particles.
The flexibility offered by our setup makes it relatively simple to imprint more complex structures. By projecting several consecutive scatterers, a lattice of variable length can be built inside the quantum wire. This opens the path to study metal-insulator physics with strong attractive interactions.