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Updated: Mar 8, 2026

Cooling an Optically Trapped Ultracold Fermi Gas by Periodical Driving
Published on: March 30, 2017
Dynamic of cold-atom tips in anharmonic potentials
Tobias Menold1, Peter Federsel1, Carola Rogulj1
1Physikalisches Institut, Eberhardt-Karls-Universität Tübingen, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany.
Abstract:
Background: Understanding the dynamics of ultracold quantum gases in an anharmonic potential is essential for applications in the new field of cold-atom scanning probe microscopy. Therein, cold atomic ensembles are used as sensitive probe tips to investigate nanostructured surfaces and surface-near potentials, which typically cause anharmonic tip motion. Results: Besides a theoretical description of this anharmonic tip motion, we introduce a novel method for detecting the cold-atom tip dynamics in situ and real time. In agreement with theory, the first measurements show that particle interactions and anharmonic motion have a significant impact on the tip dynamics. Conclusion: Our findings will be crucial for the realization of high-sensitivity force spectroscopy with cold-atom tips and could possibly allow for the development of advanced spectroscopic techniques such as Q-control.
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