Towards a quantum degenerate gas of Dysprosium atoms in optical lattices: a quantum simulator for dipolar interacting systems
Year: 2015
Authors: Fioretti A., Gabbanini C., Gozzini S., del Bino L., Catani J., Modugno G., Inguscio M., Lucioni E.
Autors Affiliation: 1Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, C.N.R., UOS Pisa, via Moruzzi 1, 56124, Pisa, Italy
2LENS and Dip. di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Firenze, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
3Istituto Nazionale di Ottica,CNR, UOS Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
4INRIM, 10135 Torino, Italy
Journal/Review: JOURNAL OF THE OPTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA B-OPTICAL PHYSICS
More Information: We are currently building an experimental apparatus for the production of quantum degenerate gases of Dysprosium atoms with the aim to perform quantum simulations of strongly-correlated dipolar systems in otpical lattices. Contrary to alkali atoms, usually employed in cold atoms experiments, Dysprosium has a large magnetic dipole moment, 10 Bohr magnetons, the largest among all elements. For this reason, besides interacting via van der Waals interaction, which has substantially a contact nature, Dy atoms also interact via dipole-dipole magnetic interaction. At present an atomic beam emitted from an effusive oven is slowed with laser light at 421nm in a Zeeman slower. The slowed atoms will be soon catched in a magneto-optical trap, which works on a narrow atomic transition at 626nm, and subsequently in a far-detuned optical trap to perform evaporative cooling and reach Bose Einstein condensation.KeyWords: Quantum degenerate gases; laser cooling; quantum magnetism