Bryce Gadway, Daniel Pertot, Jeremy Reeves, Dominik Schneble
Atomic quantum gases in optical lattices serve as a versatile testbed for
important concepts of modern condensed-matter physics. The availability of
methods to characterize strongly correlated phases is crucial for the study of
these systems. Diffraction techniques to reveal long-range spatial structure,
which may complement \emph{in situ} detection methods, have been largely
unexplored. Here we experimentally demonstrate that Bragg diffraction of
neutral atoms can be used for this purpose. Using a one-dimensional Bose gas as
a source of matter waves, we are able to infer the spatial ordering and on-site
localization of atoms confined to an optical lattice. We also study the
suppression of inelastic scattering between incident matter waves and the
lattice-trapped atoms, occurring for increased lattice depth. Furthermore, we
use atomic de Broglie waves to detect forced antiferromagnetic ordering in an
atomic spin mixture, demonstrating the suitability of our method for the
non-destructive detection of spin-ordered phases in strongly correlated atomic
gases.
View original:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1104.2564
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