Coherent Manipulation of Spin Correlations in the Hubbard Model

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a novel technique to coherently manipulate and measure spin correlations in a Fermi gas within an optical lattice, providing insights into magnetic structure and thermalization processes.

Contribution

It introduces a spatially and time-resolved Ramsey spectroscopy method combined with high-resolution imaging to probe spin correlations and structure factors in the Hubbard model.

Findings

Measured magnetic correlation length and spin correlators.

Used staggered structure factor as a spin temperature thermometer.

Studied thermalization of spin and density during lattice quench.

Abstract

We coherently manipulate spin correlations in a two-component atomic Fermi gas loaded into an optical lattice using spatially and time-resolved Ramsey spectroscopy combined with high-resolution \textit{in situ} imaging. This novel technique allows us not only to imprint spin patterns but also to probe the static magnetic structure factor at arbitrary wave vector, in particular the staggered structure factor. From a measurement along the diagonal of the $1^\mathrm{st}$ Brillouin zone of the optical lattice, we determine the magnetic correlation length and the individual spatial spin correlators. At half filling, the staggered magnetic structure factor serves as a sensitive thermometer for the spin temperature, which we employ to study the thermalization of spin and density degrees of freedom during a slow quench of the lattice depth.