FerDy Lab

In our lab, we exploit dysprosium's special electronic and magnetic properties to unveil novel quantum phenomena in ultracold atomic assemblies.

Dysprosium is one of the most magnetic elements in the periodic table. The large magnetic dipole moment of dysprosium atoms in their ground state induces strong interatomic dipolar interactions. These interactions are specific in that they remain long-range and anisotropic in the ultracold regime. This contrasts with the short-range, isotropic van der Waals interactions that usually prevail in ultracold atomic gases, for which only the s partial wave does not vanish at ultracold temperatures. In the case of dipolar interactions, all partial waves remain contributing. This yields interactions between spin-polarized fermions, in particular.

We are currently planning the FerDy experiment, which aims to create and study ultracold, mesoscopic assemblies of fermionic dysprosium atoms. These assemblies will be produced in a single tweezer trap, through which we can achieve a tunable geometry ranging from quasi-one-dimensional to quasi-two-dimensional. The state will be prepared in a deterministic way with single-atom control, effectively achieving an extremely low temperature. A high-NA objective will allow us to detect the atoms individually and map out their momentum space distribution. With this degree of control and detection, we will be well-positioned to explore exotic many-body effects arising from dipolar interactions between polarized fermions. This includes anisotropic fermionic pairing and superfluidity in polarized Fermi gases, as well as the interplay of fractional quantum Hall physics and Wigner crystallization in rapidly rotating assemblies.

The FerDy experiment will be based on the modular design developed by the Heidelberg Quantum Architecture (HQA) experiment in the neighboring group led by Selim Jochim. We will adopt their "Pieces of Cake" (PoC) design to allow for flexibility and direct exchange between experiments.