Multi-frequency optical lattice for dynamic lattice-geometry control

TL;DR

This paper introduces a multi-frequency optical lattice enabling rapid, flexible control of lattice geometry in ultracold atom systems, demonstrating full dynamical tunability among various lattice types with high stability.

Contribution

The authors present a novel multi-frequency lattice scheme that allows fast, dynamic control of lattice geometry, including a new concept of a geometry phase for precise manipulation.

Findings

Achieved full dynamical control between honeycomb, boron-nitride, and triangular lattices.

Demonstrated a new Bloch band spectroscopy method via sublattice offset modulation.

Extended the scheme to three-dimensional and quasi-periodic lattices.

Abstract

Ultracold atoms in optical lattices are pristine model systems with a tunability and flexibility that goes beyond solid-state analogies, e.g., dynamical lattice-geometry changes allow tuning a graphene lattice into a boron-nitride lattice. However, a fast modulation of the lattice geometry remains intrinsically difficult. Here we introduce a multi-frequency lattice for fast and flexible lattice-geometry control and demonstrate it for a three-beam lattice, realizing the full dynamical tunability between honeycomb lattice, boron-nitride lattice and triangular lattice. At the same time, the scheme ensures intrinsically high stability of the lattice geometry. We introduce the concept of a geometry phase as the parameter that fully controls the geometry and observe its signature as a staggered flux in a momentum space lattice. Tuning the geometry phase allows to dynamically control the sublattice offset in the boron-nitride lattice. We use a fast sweep of the offset to transfer atoms into higher Bloch bands, and perform a new type of Bloch band spectroscopy by modulating the sublattice offset. Finally, we generalize the geometry phase concept and the multi-frequency lattice to three-dimensional optical lattices and quasi-periodic potentials. This scheme will allow further applications such as novel Floquet and quench protocols to create and probe, e.g., topological properties.