Melih Okan

Quantum-Gas Microscope for Fermionic Atoms

We realize a quantum-gas microscope for fermionic ^{40}K atoms trapped in an optical lattice, which allows one to probe strongly correlated fermions at the single-atom level. We combine 3D Raman sideband cooling with high-resolution optics to simultaneously cool and image individual atoms with single-lattice-site resolution at a detection fidelity above 95%. The imaging process leaves the atoms predominantly in the 3D motional ground state of their respective lattice sites, inviting the implementation of a Maxwells demon to assemble low-entropy many-body states. Single-site-resolved imaging of fermions enables the direct observation of magnetic order, time-resolved measurements of the spread of particle correlations, and the detection of many-fermion entanglement.

Observation of 2D Fermionic Mott Insulators of ^{40}K with Single-Site Resolution.

We report on the site-resolved observation of characteristic states of the two-dimensional repulsive Fermi-Hubbard model, using ultracold ^{40}K atoms in an optical lattice. By varying the tunneling, interaction strength, and external confinement, we realize metallic, Mott-insulating, and band-insulating states. We directly measure the local moment, which quantifies the degree of on-site magnetization, as a function of temperature and chemical potential. Entropies per particle as low as 0.99(6)k_{B} indicate that nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic correlations should be detectable using spin-sensitive imaging.