Contact: Michael E. Newman
michael.newman@nist.gov
301-975-3025
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

'Vortex Lattices' May Help Explain Material Defects

Caption: This set of JILA images shows a rotating Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) "pinned" to a rotating lattice created with lasers as the shape of the combined "vortex lattice" evolves from triangular (top) to square (bottom). The images on the left show the BEC vortex lattice at low, medium and high pinning strengths, or optical intensity levels (top to bottom). The corresponding images on the right are computer processed to reveal the structural relationship between the BEC vortex and optical lattice, with red indicating the symmetry of the physical structures (hexagonal/triangular or square).

Credit: Cornell group/JILA

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