Direct Observation and Analysis of Spin Dependent Transport of Single Atoms in a 1D Optical Lattice

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates spin-dependent transport of single cesium atoms in a 1D optical lattice, achieving controlled unidirectional movement over multiple sites through polarization rotation and spin flipping.

Contribution

It presents the first direct observation and analysis of spin-dependent transport of single atoms in a 1D optical lattice with quantified efficiency and error sources.

Findings

Successful unidirectional transport over several lattice sites

Quantitative analysis of transport efficiency and errors

Controlled manipulation of atomic spins and positions

Abstract

We have directly observed spin-dependent transport of single cesium atoms in a 1D optical lattice. A superposition of two circularly polarized standing waves is generated from two counter propagating, linearly polarized laser beams. Rotation of one of the polarizations by $\pi$ causes displacement of the $\sigma^{+}$- and $\sigma^{-}$-lattices by one lattice site. Unidirectional transport over several lattice sites is achieved by rotating the polarization back and forth and flipping the spin after each transport step. We have analyzed the transport efficiency over 10 and more lattice sites, and discussed and quantified relevant error sources.