Three-dimensional anderson localization in variable scale disorder

W. R. McGehee, S. S. Kondov, W. Xu, J. J. Zirbel, B. Demarco

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We report on the impact of variable-scale disorder on 3D Anderson localization of a noninteracting ultracold atomic gas. A spin-polarized gas of fermionic atoms is localized by allowing it to expand in an optical speckle potential. Using a sudden quench of the localized density distribution, we verify that the density profile is representative of the underlying single-particle localized states. The geometric mean of the disordering potential correlation lengths is varied by a factor of 4 via adjusting the aperture of the speckle focusing lens. We observe that the root-mean-square size of the localized gas increases approximately linearly with the speckle correlation length, in qualitative agreement with the scaling predicted by weak scattering theory.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number145303
JournalPhysical review letters
Volume111
Issue number14
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2 2013

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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