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This thesis details the development of a blue-detuned optical dipole trap for tightly confining a fermionic ⁶Li quantum gas in 2D, as part of the lab’s overarching goal of realizing periodic 1D “quantum wires.” Achieving this goal required an order of magnitude tighter ⁶Li vertical confinement by embedding this blue-detuned trap within the apparatus. The primary engineering challenge was generating a highly asymmetric Hermite–Gaussian TEM₀₁ laser-field (λ = 532 nm) such that atoms reside in the dark central node of the electromagnetic field oriented horizontally. The optical system was optimized to produce a Gaussian laser-field from a single-mode fiber, which was converted to TEM₀₁ using a custom π-phase plate. Modeling and testing determined the beam waists required to achieve a vertical trapping frequency f_z = 10 kHz at 100 mW laser power. Critically, the trap design allowed integration with existing red-detuned trapping and imaging systems. This enhanced vertical confinement will enable the study of Fermi gases in reduced dimensionality, including the creation of exotic quantum phases in 1D.

Advisor: Professor Kevin Wright

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Meeting ID: 917 8015 4574
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