A dipolar erbium quantum gas microscope

Abstract

Quantum gas microscopy is an exciting platform for the study ofin situatom-atom interactions.Erbium, a dipolar atom, presents an opportunity to extend previous quantum gas microscopy ex-periments to more complex systems influenced by long-range, anisotropic interactions. In this the-sis, I present progress towards a quantum gas microscope of erbium atoms, including details on thedesign of a novel accordion lattice system. This system will allow us to dynamically tune the spac-ing of both the vertical and horizontal optical lattices confining the atoms. In addition, I present onthe sub-second generation of erbium Bose-Einstein condensates, made possible by implementing atwo-stage magneto-optical trap and a crossed optical dipole trap with a tunable geometry.