Collisionally induced transport in periodic potentials

Year: 2004

Authors: Ott H., De Mirandes E., Ferlaino F., Roati G., Modugno G., Inguscio M.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Florence, LENS, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Univ Florence, Dipartimento Fis, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; INFM, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.

Abstract: We study the transport of ultracold atoms in a tight optical lattice. For identical fermions the system is insulating under an external force while for bosonic atoms it is conducting. This reflects the different collisional properties of the particles and reveals the role of interparticle collisions in establishing a macroscopic transport in a perfectly periodic potential. Also in the case of fermions we can induce a transport by creating a collisional regime through the addition of bosons. We investigate the transport as a function of the collisional rate and observe a transition from a regime in which the mobility increases with increasing collisional rate to one in which it decreases. We compare our data with a theoretical model for electron transport in solids introduced by Esaki and Tsu.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS

Volume: 92 (16)      Pages from: 160601-1  to: 160601-4

More Information: We want to thank G. La Rocca for illuminating ?>discussions and T. Ban for contributions to the ex?>periment. This work was supported by MIUR, by EU under Contract No. HPRICT1999-00111, and by INFM, PRA “Photonmatter.” H. O. was supported by EU with ?>a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship under Contract No. HPMF-CT-2002-01958.
KeyWords: Superlattice
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.160601

Citations: 127
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