Signatures of spatial inversion asymmetry of an optical lattice observed in matter-wave diffraction

C. K. Thomas, T. H. Barter, T.-H. Leung, S. Daiss, and D. M. Stamper-Kurn
Phys. Rev. A 93, 063613 – Published 13 June 2016

Abstract

The structure of a two-dimensional honeycomb optical lattice potential with small inversion asymmetry is characterized using coherent diffraction of Rb87 atoms. We demonstrate that even a small potential asymmetry, with peak-to-peak amplitude of 2.3% of the overall lattice potential, can lead to pronounced inversion asymmetry in the momentum-space diffraction pattern. The observed asymmetry is explained quantitatively by considering both Kapitza-Dirac scattering in the Raman-Nath regime and also either perturbative or full-numerical treatment of the band structure of a periodic potential with a weak inversion-symmetry-breaking term. Our results have relevance for both the experimental development of coherent atom optics and the proper interpretation of time-of-flight assays of atomic materials in optical lattices.

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  • Received 26 January 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.93.063613

©2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & OpticalCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

C. K. Thomas1, T. H. Barter1, T.-H. Leung1, S. Daiss2, and D. M. Stamper-Kurn1,3,*

  • 1Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  • 2Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
  • 3Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA

  • *dmsk@berkeley.edu

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Issue

Vol. 93, Iss. 6 — June 2016

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