Realization of a Fermi-Hubbard Optical Tweezer Array

We use lithium-6 atoms in an optical tweezer array to realize an eight-site Fermi-Hubbard chain near half filling. We achieve single site detection by combining the tweezer array with a quantum gas microscope. By reducing disorder in the energy offsets to less than the tunneling energy, we observe Mott insulators with strong antiferromagnetic correlations. The measured spin correlations allow us to put an upper bound on the entropy of 0.26??4??kB per atom, comparable to the lowest entropies achieved with optical lattices. Additionally, we establish the flexibility of the tweezer platform by initializing atoms on one tweezer and observing tunneling dynamics across the array for uniform and staggered 1D geometries.

Automated summary

In this study, we use an optical tweezer array with lithium-6 atoms to create an eight-site Fermi-Hubbard chain near half filling. By combining the tweezer array with a quantum gas microscope, we are able to detect individual sites. By minimizing disorder in energy offsets, we observe Mott insulators with strong antiferromagnetic correlations and measure the spin correlations, which lead us to estimate an upper bound of entropy per atom. We also demonstrate the flexibility of the tweezer platform by initializing atoms on one tweezer and observing tunneling dynamics across the array for different geometries.