Noise correlation spectroscopy of the broken order of a Mott insulating phase

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how noise correlation spectroscopy can detect the breakdown of the ordered Mott insulating phase in a bosonic atomic lattice, revealing inhomogeneous states through additional correlation peaks.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of noise correlation analysis to identify the transition from a homogeneous Mott insulator to an inhomogeneous state in a two-color lattice.

Findings

Detection of additional correlation peaks indicating inhomogeneity

Quantitative agreement with theoretical predictions

Observation of redistribution of atoms into a disordered insulating state

Abstract

We use a two-color lattice to break the homogeneous site occupation of an atomic Mott Insulator of bosonic 87Rb. We detect the disruption of the ordered Mott domains via noise correlation analysis of the atomic density distribution after time-of-flight. The appearance of additional correlation peaks evidences the redistribution of the atoms into a strongly inhomogeneous insulating state, in quantitative agreement with the predictions.