Bloch oscillations in lattice potentials with controlled aperiodicity

TL;DR

This paper investigates how controlled aperiodicity in lattice potentials affects Bloch oscillations, revealing that damping depends on lattice ratio and scatterers, but can be mitigated by interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a systematic numerical study of damping mechanisms in aperiodic lattices and shows how interactions can counteract damping effects.

Findings

Damping depends on the ratio of lattice constants in bichromatic potentials.

Small concentrations of scatterers cause significant damping.

Mean-field interactions can reduce damping caused by aperiodicity.

Abstract

We numerically investigate the damping of Bloch oscillations in a one-dimensional lattice potential whose translational symmetry is broken in a systematic manner, either by making the potential bichromatic or by introducing scatterers at distinct lattice sites. We find that the damping strongly depends on the ratio of lattice constants in the bichromatic potential, and that even a small concentration of scatterers can lead to strong damping. Moreover, mean-field interactions are able to counteract aperiodicity-induced damping of Bloch oscillations.