Abstract
We follow the evolution of fermion pairing in the dimensional crossover from three-dimensional to two-dimensional as a strongly interacting Fermi gas of atoms becomes confined to a stack of two-dimensional layers formed by a one-dimensional optical lattice. Decreasing the dimensionality leads to the opening of a gap in radio-frequency spectra, even on the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer side of a Feshbach resonance. The measured binding energy of fermion pairs closely follows the theoretical two-body binding energy and, in the two-dimensional limit, the zero-temperature mean-field Bose-Einstein-condensation to Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer crossover theory.
- Received 13 October 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.045302
© 2012 American Physical Society
Viewpoint
Fermion Pairing in Flatland
Published 23 January 2012
Cold-atom experiments tread into the land of two-dimensional superconductivity.
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