Experimental Observation of Two-Dimensional Anderson Localization with the Atomic Kicked Rotor

Isam Manai (1) , Jean-François Clément (1) , Radu Chicireanu (1) , Clément Hainaut (1) , Jean Claude Garreau (1) , Pascal Szriftgiser (1) , Dominique Delande (2)

1 PhLAM - Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, Atomes et Molécules - UMR 8523
2 LKB (Jussieu) - Laboratoire Kastler Brossel

Dimension 2 is expected to be the lower critical dimension for Anderson localization in a time-reversal-invariant disordered quantum system. Using an atomic quasiperiodic kicked rotor -- equivalent to a two-dimensional Anderson-like model -- we experimentally study Anderson localization in dimension 2 and we observe localized wave function dynamics. We also show that the localization length depends exponentially on the disorder strength and anisotropy and is in quantitative agreement with the predictions of the self-consistent theory for the 2D Anderson localization.

Domaines: Physique Quantique [quant-ph]; Systèmes désordonnés et réseaux de neurones [cond-mat.dis-nn]

Isam Manai, Jean-François Clément, Radu Chicireanu, Clément Hainaut, Jean Claude Garreau, et al.. Experimental Observation of Two-Dimensional Anderson Localization with the Atomic Kicked Rotor. Physical Review Letters, 2015, 115 (24), pp.240603. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.240603⟩. ⟨hal-01142263v2⟩