Taming, slowing and trapping atoms with light
Cold is quantum, Quantum is cool!
We shape quantum matter
Multicolored lasers for a variety of atoms
Keeping our eyes on the quantum world
Join our ultracool group!
High technology for great science
Taming, slowing and trapping atoms with light

Welcome to the website of the Ultracold Quantum Gases group at the European Laboratory for Nonlinear Spectroscopy (LENS), the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Florence (Italy) and the Institute of Optics of the Italian National Research Council (CNR - INO). In our labs we use lasers and magnetic fields to produce the lowest temperatures of the Universe, just a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero...

At these temperatures, atoms stop moving and we can control them for a variety of different fundamental studies and applications. We can force atoms to arrange according to a periodic structure and simulate the behavior of crystalline solids and new materials. We can use the atoms as ultra-high accurate sensors to probe forces with the power of quantum mechanics. We can study how quantum particles combine together under the action of strong interactions and how superfluidity develops. We can use these ultracold atoms to process information and develop new quantum technologies.

Dress warmly and... follow us for this ultracold journey!

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Josephson effect of superfluid fermions across the BEC-BCS crossover

Li Lab

Shining a blue detuned thin (2 μm) barrier we produce a double-well potential, which creates a Josephson-like junction for fermionic superfluids. By varying the interactions we investigate the population and phase dynamics between the two wells, observing the Josephson effect across the BEC-BCS crossover.

G. Valtolina et al.,
Josephson effect in fermionic superfluids across the BEC-BCS crossover
Science 350, 1505 (2015)

Laser cooling sources ready to be used

Dy Lab

Light at 421nm will be employed for transverse cooling and for the Zeeman slower. Up to 1.2W of blue light is produced in a homemade frequency doubling cavity and is locked to the atomic line using saturated absorption spectroscopy in a hollow cathode lamp.

Light at 626nm will be employed for the magneto-optical trap (MOT). The red light is obtained from a commercial laser system and is locked to the atomic line using saturated absorption spectroscopy in a iodine cell.

"SIR" Carlo, congratulations!

Ba+/Li Lab

Carlo Sias has been awarded with a SIR ("Scientific Independence of young Researchers") grant from MIUR ("Italian Ministry for Education and Research") for the development of the Ba+/Li experiment!

Thermodynamics of a Unitary Fermi gas

Li Lab

Using the inverse Abel transform, the in-situ 3D density profile of a cloud of two-state 6Li atoms trapped in a potential with cylindrical symmetry can be derived. Following [M. Ku et al., Science 335, 563 (2012)] we reconstruct the equation of state of the system. In particular, local pressure and compressibility have been obtained for the unitary Fermi gas, revealing the superfluid transition.

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