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

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!

LAST NEWS

Josephson junction arrays with BECs

We report on the direct observation of an oscillating atomic current in a one-dimensional array of Josephson junctions realized with an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. The array is created by a laser standing wave, with the condensates trapped in the valleys of the periodic potential and weakly coupled by the interwell barriers. The coherence of multiple tunneling between adjacent wells is continuously probed by atomic interference. The square of the small-amplitude oscillation frequency is proportional to the microscopic tunneling rate of each condensate through the barriers and provides a direct measurement of the Josephson critical current as a function of the intermediate barrier heights.

F. S. Cataliotti et al.
Josephson Junction Arrays with Bose-Einstein Condensates
Science 293, 843 (2001)

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Josephson effect of superfluid fermions across the BEC-BCS crossover

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

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!

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!

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