Group Seminar at MPQ: Developing optical tweezer techniques for Hamiltonian engineering

Yao-Chih Kuo, Cambridge University
Group Seminar at MPQ lecture hall and zoom
Thursday, May 04th , 09:00am (MEZ)

Abstract:

Ultracold atoms have proven to be an invaluable platform for quantum simulation and testing many-body theories of quantum matter. Tightly-focussed laser beams controlled using acousto-optic devices can provide highly-tuneable local changes to the optical potential experienced by the trapped atoms, allowing engineering of the Hamiltonian being studied in a quantum simulator. In this talk, I present methods to manipulate beam position and control for output intensity. I also characterise spherical aberration effects of the optical system, enabling precise projection in the image plane. These techniques will later be integrated with existing setups in our lab, particularly with respect to a kagome optical lattice experiment, for which a quantum gas microscope is currently being built. By projecting a rapidly-modulated tweezer array through the high-NA objective, we hope to study periodic forcing of individual on-site energies in the future.