An optical accordion trap for two-dimensional ultracold gases of ⁶Li and ²³Na

Abstract

An optical accordion trap is an optical lattice with a variable periodicity. By loading ultracold gases into a node of an accordion trap and then decreasing the lattice spacing, we plan to compress three dimensional ultracold gases of ⁶Li and ²³Na down to two dimensions, to create two-dimensional ultracold Fermi and Bose gases with high atom number. We describe the design, construction, and operation of our accordion trap, and comment on potential future improvements. By enabling the study of two-dimensional ultracold atomic Fermi gases at comparatively high density, our work will help to address contemporary topics in many-body quantum physics, such as two-dimensional fermionic superfluidity and quantum Hall physics.