Abstract
The coupling of the spin of electrons to their motional state lies at the heart of recently discovered topological phases of matter. Here we create and detect spin-orbit coupling in an atomic Fermi gas, a highly controllable form of quantum degenerate matter. We directly reveal the spin-orbit gap via spin-injection spectroscopy, which characterizes the energy-momentum dispersion and spin composition of the quantum states. For energies within the spin-orbit gap, the system acts as a spin diode. We also create a spin-orbit coupled lattice and probe its spinful band structure, which features additional spin gaps and a fully gapped spectrum. In the presence of -wave interactions, such systems should display induced -wave pairing, topological superfluidity, and Majorana edge states.
- Received 25 June 2012
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.095302
© 2012 American Physical Society
Viewpoint
Spin-Orbit Coupling Comes in From the Cold
Published 27 August 2012
Experimentalists simulate the effects of spin-orbit coupling in ultracold Fermi gases, paving the way for the creation of new exotic phases of matter.
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