Robust Digital Holography For Ultracold Atom Trapping

TL;DR

This paper presents an improved algorithm for designing two-dimensional holographic traps for ultracold atoms, incorporating Helmholtz propagation to reduce artifacts and enable well-defined background potentials.

Contribution

It introduces a novel holographic trapping algorithm that enhances previous methods by including full Helmholtz propagation and background potential control.

Findings

Successful experimental demonstration of the improved algorithm

Reduction of fringing artifacts in holographic traps

Ability to create well-defined background potentials

Abstract

We have formulated and experimentally demonstrated an improved algorithm for design of arbitrary two-dimensional holographic traps for ultracold atoms. Our method builds on the best previously available algorithm, MRAF, and improves on it in two ways. First, it allows for creation of holographic atom traps with a well defined background potential. Second, we experimentally show that for creating trapping potentials free of fringing artifacts it is important to go beyond the Fourier approximation in modelling light propagation. To this end, we incorporate full Helmholtz propagation into our calculations.