title: Inserting two atoms into a single optical micropotential.
abstract: We recently demonstrated that strings of trapped atoms inside a standing wave optical dipole trap can be rearranged using optical tweezers [Y. Miroshnychenko, Nature 442, 151 (2006)]. This technique allows us to actively set the interatomic separations on the scale of the individual trapping potential wells. Here, we use such a distance-control operation to insert two atoms into the same potential well. The detected success rate of this manipulation is 16(-3)(+4)%, in agreement with the predictions of a theoretical model based on our experimental parameters.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Angewandte Physik, Universität Bonn, Wegelerstrasse 8, D-53115 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miroshnychenko
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Alt
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dotsenko
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Förster
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khudaverdyan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Meschede
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reick
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rauschenbeutel