Atomic Fermi gases in optical lattices

Abstract

We report on the first experiments with atomic Fermi gases in optical lattices. We have studied the properties of non interacting fermions and of an interacting boson‐fermion mixture in a 1D lattice in presence of additional linear or harmonic potentials. These systems have allowed to study for the first time the fundamental quantum transport properties of a perfect crystal and to confirm the role of interactions in real crystals. We have found that the combination of Fermi gases and optical lattices can also have important applications, such as high‐resolution force sensing.