Freezing, accelerating and slowing directed currents in real time with superimposed driven lattices

TL;DR

This paper introduces a universal method for real-time control of particle transport in superimposed driven lattices, enabling acceleration, deceleration, and freezing of particles by manipulating phase space channels.

Contribution

It presents a novel scheme that uses phase space channel switching and cantori structures to control particle transport dynamically in driven lattices.

Findings

Enables real-time control of particle transport in optical lattices.

Demonstrates acceleration, deceleration, and freezing of particles.

Potential applications in targeted molecular delivery.

Abstract

We provide a generic scheme offering real time control of directed particle transport in superimposed driven lattices. This scheme allows to accelerate, slow and freeze the transport on demand, by switching one of the lattices subsequently on and off. The underlying physical mechanism hinges on a systematic opening and closing of channels between transporting and non-transporting phase space structures upon switching, and exploits cantori structures which generate memory effects in the population of these structures. Our results should allow for real time control of cold thermal atomic ensembles in optical lattices, but might also be useful as a design principle for targeted delivery of molecules or colloids in optical devices.