Observation of 2D Mott insulator and $\pi$-superfluid quantum phase transition in shaking optical lattice

Abstract

The Mott insulator and superfluid phase transition is one of the most prominent phenomena in ultracold atoms. In this work, we report the observation of a novel 2D quantum phase transition between Mott insulator and $\pi$ superfluid in a shaking optical lattice. In the deep optical lattice regime, the lowest $s$-band can be tuned to Mott phase, while the higher $p_{x,y}$ bands are itinerant for having larger bandwidth. Through a shaking technique coupling the $s$ orbital to $p_{x,y}$ orbital states, we experimentally observe the transition between the states of the $s$ and $p_{x,y}$ bands, leading to a quantum phase transition from 2D $s$-orbital Mott phase to the $p_{x,y}$-orbital superfluid which condensed at $(\pi,\pi)$ momentum.