Here in Innsbruck, and in Stuttgart and Pisa, clouds of ultracold dipolar atoms have recently been observed in the long-sought after supersolid state, in which there exists global phase coherence and crystalline density structure in the superfluid. Two-component dipolar gases are also now experimentally producible, with our erbium and dysprosium mixtures, however the fate of the supersolid state remains largely unknown.
Together with researchers from Hanover, we predict the existence of a binary supersolid state in which the two components form a series of alternating domains, producing an immiscible double supersolid. Remarkably, we find that a dipolar component can even induce supersolidity in a nondipolar component. In stark contrast to single-component supersolids, the number of crystal sites is not strictly limited by the condensate populations, and the density is hence substantially lower. Our results are applicable to a wide range of dipole moment combinations, marking an important step towards long-lived bulk-supersolidity.
See the pre-print here: arXiv:2203.11119, and the now published paper here: PhysRevA.106.053322