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Dark Optical Lattice of Ring Traps for Cold Atoms

Emmanuel Courtade·Olivier Houde·Jean-François Clément·Philippe Verkerk·Daniel Hennequin
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Abstract

We propose a new geometry of optical lattice for cold atoms, namely a lattice made of a 1D stack of dark ring traps. It is obtained through the interference pattern of a standard Gaussian beam with a counter-propagating hollow beam obtained using a setup with two conical lenses. The traps of the resulting lattice are characterized by a high confinement and a filling rate much larger than unity, even if loaded with cold atoms from a MOT. We have implemented this system experimentally, and obtained a lattice of ring traps populated with typically 40 atoms per site with a life time of 30 ms. Applications in statistical physics, quantum computing and Bose-Einstein condensate dynamics are conceivable.

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Emmanuel Courtade, Olivier Houde, Jean-François Clément, Philippe Verkerk, Daniel Hennequin. 2006-09-08. Dark Optical Lattice of Ring Traps for Cold Atoms. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.74.031403

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