Dy-Yt LAB

We are currently designing and building a new experimental apparatus to study many-body phases of highly-magnetic dysprosium and of mixtures with non-magnetic ytterbium.

Using our strong experience from the ERBIUM, Er-Dy and T-Reqs experiments, we will set up a new apparatus exploiting the possibility of ultrafast free-space imaging below micrometer resolution as well as local manipulation using optical tweezers and spatial light modulators.

Lanthanide atoms with their multi-electron shell configuration have very peculiar properties, like many stable isotopes and a rich optical spectrum. Interestingly, while some species like dysprosium host very high magnetic dipole moments, others like ytterbium are essentially non-magnetic. We will mix these two species at the edges of the dipolar strengths scale to study their interplay and the resulting many-body phases emerging. We will use a high-numerical aperture objective to enable the local manipulation and detection of the ultracold atoms.

Interested in joining us? Check out our open positions here.