Description
Quantum-gas microscopes allow one to image synthetic quantum materials made of ultracold atoms trapped in optical lattices at the single-site and single-atom level, and have opened a new era in the field of quantum simulation. A prime example is the study of the Fermi-Hubbard model and its many-body phase diagram, where the investigation of antiferromagnetic order was enabled by the achievement of spin-resolved imaging of fermionic alkali atoms. Alkaline-earth elements, like strontium, offer novel tools for the study of Hubbard quantum many-body systems. These include large-spin fermionic isotopes with SU(N) symmetry as well as narrow and ultranarrow transitions. In my talk, I will present our very recent realization of a quantum-gas microscope for fermionic strontium-87 atoms. With its nuclear spin of I = 9/2, this atom realizes the SU(N) Fermi-Hubbard model with N = 10 spin states. Building on our previous results with bosonic strontium [1], we have developed an imaging scheme that exploits strontium's narrow intercombination line and allows us to consecutively image the site occupation of the 10 spin states in each single experimental sequence. Thanks to its single-atom resolved images and full spin-resolution, our system provides unparalleled access to the exotic quantum-magnetic phases of the SU(N) Fermi-Hubbard model.
[1] S. Buob, J. Höschele, V. Makhalov, A. Rubio-Abadal, L. Tarruell, A strontium quantum-gas microscope, PRX Quantum 5, 020316 (2024).
