Lattice with a Twist : Helical Waveguides for Ultracold Matter

TL;DR

This paper explores the use of helical waveguides created by Laguerre-Gaussian beams for guiding ultracold matter, establishing relationships between beam parameters and waveguide properties, with potential applications in quantum transport.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method of creating helical optical waveguides with controllable properties using Laguerre-Gaussian beams, linking beam parameters to waveguide characteristics.

Findings

Waveguiding properties depend on beam parameters.

Quantitative relations to Gaussian optical lattices are established.

Potential application in quantum transport is proposed.

Abstract

We investigate the waveguiding properties of the optical interference pattern of two counter-propagating Laguerre-Gaussian beams. The number, helicity, radius, pitch, depth and frequencies of transverse confinement of the waveguides are simply related to the beam parameters. Quantitative connections to the familiar Gaussian optical lattice are made and an application to quantum transport is suggested.