Optical kagome lattice for ultracold atoms with nearest neighbor interactions

We propose a scheme to implement an optical kagome lattice for ultracold atoms with controllable s-wave interactions between nearest neighbor sites and a gauge potential. The atoms occupy three different internal atomic levels with electromagnetically induced coupling between the levels. We show that by appropriately shifting the triangular lattice potentials, experienced by atoms in different levels, the kagome lattice can be realized using only two standing waves, generating a highly frustrated quantum system for the atoms.