Lithium Microscope (ERC Project ANYON)
Ultracold atoms in optical lattices are a highly tunable platform for studying quantum phenomena in periodic potentials and gain new insights into solid state physics. Quantum gas microscope experiments take this control one step further by providing access to each single particle within a quantum-many body system and they allow to detect completely new observables such as multipoint correlators or string order parameters. In this project we work with lithium atoms, with provide both a fermionic and a bosonic isotop as well as a broad Feshbach resonance for large tunability of the interaction strength.
Recently we have developed a radically new microscopy technique, which we call quantum gas magnifier: by magnifying the density distribution by a factor up to 90 via matter-mave optics prior to optical imaging, we overcome limitations of optical density and depth of field and are therefore able to image systems in completely new regimes such as arrays of tubes. We are currently implementing this technique with lithium atoms and will combine it with single-atom sensitivity.
This project is funded via the ERC starting grant ANYON and the DFG Collaborative Research Center SFB 925.
recommended reading
- Jacob F. Sherson, Christof Weitenberg, Manuel Endres, Marc Cheneau, Immanuel Bloch, Stefan Kuhr, Single-atom-resolved fluorescence imaging of an atomic Mott insulator, Nature 467, 68-72 (2010).
- Christof Weitenberg, Fluorescence imaging of quantum gases, Chapter 7 in “Quantum gas experiments: exploring many-body states”, P. Törmä, K. Sengstock, Editors (Imperial College Press, 2014).
- Luca Asteria, Henrik P. Zahn, Marcel N. Kosch, Klaus Sengstock, Christof Weitenberg, Quantum gas magnifier for sub-lattice-resolved imaging of three-dimensional quantum systems, Nature 599, 571 (2021).
Also see the finished PhD theses at this project for details of the experimental setup
- Mathis Fischer, A Matter-Wave Microscope for Lithium Atoms in a Tunable Optical Lattice, 2023
- Andreas Kerkmann, A novel Apparatus for Quantum Gas Microscopy of Lithium Atoms, 2019
- Michael Hagemann, A Setup for High-Resolution Imaging of Ultracold Lithium Atoms, 2020
Master and Bachelor thesis finished within the team
- Corinna Menz, Analysis of Topological Phases in Optical Lattices Using Floquet Theory, Masterarbeit 2023
- Anna Lena Hauschild, Implementierung des Floquet-Matrix-Formalismus für getriebene optische Gitter, Bachelorarbeit 2023
- Richard von Wurmb, About a symmetry problem of Helmholtz coils and their corresponding magnetic fields, Bachelorarbeit 2023
- Marco Stolpmann, Intensity Stabilization and Deep Learning Based Laser Speckle Spectrometer, Masterarbeit 2022
- Mara Brinkmann, Charakterisierung eines hochauflösenden Abbildungssystems für Quantengasexperimente, Bachelorarbeit 2022
- Nora Bidzinski, Comparative study of algorithms for removing interference fringes from absorption images of ultracold atoms, Bachelorarbeit 2020
- Tobias Petersen, Tools for lithium quantum gas experiments: radiofrequency control, interlock system and image response function, Masterarbeit 2018