Degenerate Fermi gases in a triangular optical lattice

Geometric frustration is a path towards realizing spin liquids and exotic spin ordering. Ultracold atom systems offer great tunability to study such systems in a wide parameter range of interactions, density and spin-imbalance which are not accessible in condensed matter systems.
Here, we report our recent progress on constructing a quantum gas microscope for imaging fermionic lithium 6 in a triangular optical lattice. Degenerate Fermi gases with a temperature of ≈ 0.09 T_F have been realized within a crossed dipole trap and successfully loaded into a two-dimensional triangular optical lattice. To characterize this triangular lattice, we pulsed the lattice beam and observed the Kapitza-Dirac scattering pattern using a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate. Raman sideband spectroscopy has also been carried out in this two-dimensional triangular lattice and resolved Raman sidebands have been observed, confirming a trap frequency of about 1 MHz. With this progress, we are close to realizing a triangular-lattice quantum gas microscope for fermionic lithium 6. We plan to measure spin and density correlations to explore the phase diagram and are interested to study the effects of frustration on transport properties.