Coherent transport of cold atoms in angle-tuned optical lattices

We demonstrate the controlled coherent transport and splitting of atomic wave packets in spin-dependent optical lattice potentials. Such experiments open intriguing possibilities for quantum state engineering of many body states. After first preparing localized atomic wave functions in an optical lattice through a Mott insulating phase, we place each atom in a superposition of two internal spin states. Then state selective optical potentials are used to split the wave functio...

We introduce a fully coherent way for directed transport of localized atoms in optical lattices by regularly performing phase shifts on the lattice potential during the free evolution of the system. This paves the way for realizing a possible cold atom quantum computer in which entangling gates operate by bringing two individual atoms in the proximity of each other and letting them to interact. The speed of our protocol is determined by the tunneling amplitudes of the atoms a...

We present a novel method to transport ultra cold atoms in a focused optical lattice over macroscopic distances of many Rayleigh ranges. With this method ultra cold atoms were transported over 5 cm in 250 ms without significant atom loss or heating. By translating the interference pattern together with the beam geometry the trap parameters are maintained over the full transport range. Thus, the presented method is well suited for tightly focused optical lattices that have suf...

We show theoretically that the dynamics of cold atoms in the lowest energy band of a stationary optical lattice can be transformed and controlled by a second, weaker, periodic potential moving at a constant speed along the axis of the stationary lattice. The atom trajectories exhibit complex behavior, which depends sensitively on the amplitude and speed of the propagating lattice. When the speed and amplitude of the moving potential are low, the atoms are dragged through the ...

We study the means to prepare and coherently manipulate atomic wave packets in optical lattices, with particular emphasis on alkali atoms in the far-detuned limit. We derive a general, basis independent expression for the lattice operator, and show that its off-diagonal elements can be tailored to couple the vibrational manifolds of separate magnetic sublevels. Using these couplings one can evolve the state of a trapped atom in a quantum coherent fashion, and prepare pure qua...

Bose-Einstein condensates of rubidium atoms are stored in a two-dimensional periodic dipole force potential, formed by a pair of standing wave laser fields. The resulting potential consists of a lattice of tightly confining tubes, each filled with a 1D quantum gas. Tunnel-coupling between neighboring tubes is controlled by the intensity of the laser fields. By observing the interference pattern of atoms released from more than 3000 individual lattice tubes the phase coherence...

In the past, light-assisted cold collisions between laser cooled atoms have been widely studied in magneto-optical atom traps (MOTs). We describe here theoretical studies of dynamical interactions, specifically cold collisions, between atoms trapped in near-resonant, dissipative optical lattices. The developed quantum-mechanical model is based on Monte Carlo wave-function simulations and combines atomic cooling and collision dynamics in a single framework. It turns out, that ...

We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally the phenomenon of vibrational resonance in a periodic potential, using cold atoms in an optical lattice as a model system. A high-frequency (HF) drive, with frequency much larger than any characteristic frequency of the system, is applied by phase-modulating one of the lattice beams. We show that the HF drive leads to the renormalization of the potential. We used transport measurements as a probe of the potential renormalization...

We propose a method for arbitrary manipulations of a quantum wavepacket in an optical lattice by a suitable modulation of the lattice amplitude. A theoretical model allows to determine the modulation corresponding to a given wavepacket motion, so that arbitrary atomic trajectories can be generated. The method is immediately usable in state of the art experiments.

We report on the realization of dynamical control of transport for ultra-cold Sr88 atoms loaded in an accelerated and amplitude-modulated 1D optical lattice. We tailor the energy dispersion of traveling wave packets and reversibly switch between Wannier-Stark localization and driven transport based on coherent tunneling. Within a Loschmidt-echo scheme where the atomic group velocities are reversed at once, we demonstrate a novel mirror for matter waves working independently o...