Atoms in a radiofrequency-dressed optical lattice

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the creation of a subwavelength optical lattice by radiofrequency dressing of cold atoms, revealing new lattice properties and nonadiabatic effects at the optical wavelength scale.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to reshape optical lattices at subwavelength scales using rf dressing, enabling exploration of new lattice geometries and dynamics.

Findings

Subwavelength lattice unit cell is achieved through rf dressing.

Nonadiabatic transitions depend on lattice depth and rf parameters.

Momentum distribution changes reveal the effects of dressing.

Abstract

We load cold atoms into an optical lattice dramatically reshaped by radiofrequency (rf) coupling of state-dependent lattice potentials. This rf dressing changes the unit cell of the lattice at a subwavelength scale, such that its curvature and topology departs strongly from that of a simple sinusoidal lattice potential. Radiofrequency dressing has previously been performed at length scales from mm to tens of microns, but not at the single-optical-wavelength scale. At this length scale significant coupling between adiabatic potentials leads to nonadiabatic transitions, which we measure as a function of lattice depth and dressing frequency and amplitude. We also investigate the dressing by measuring changes in the momentum distribution of the dressed states.