Ultracold spin-1 atoms in three-well optical superlattice under a weak magnetic field

Abstract

Ultracold atoms trapped in an optical lattice of double-well potential, the so-called optical superlattice, have received much attention in the field of cold atoms. A protocol generalized to three-well optical superlattice is suggested in this paper. The ground-state diagrams of ultracold spin-1 atoms trapped in a symmetric three-well optical superlattice in a weak magnetic field are studied based on the exact diagonalization. It is shown that the ground-state diagrams are remarkably different for the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic atoms. There does not exist the type of ground state for the antiferromagnetic interaction atoms, where the magnetic quantum number of the total spin of the system along the external magnetic field are ±2. But for the ferromagnetic interaction atoms, there do exist. In addition, there exist only the fully polarized ground-states for the ferromagnetic atoms in the negative quadratic-Zeeman-energy region. The physicsal origin of the dependence of the ground states on the controllable parameters are analyzed. These quantum spin-states can be controlled easily and exactly by modulating the external magnetic field and the height of the optical barrier, which may be a tool for the study of spin-entanglement.