Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-25-2014

Publication Title

Physical Review Letters

DOI

10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.045305

ISSN

1079-7114

Abstract

We report the direct observation of resistive flow through a weak link in a weakly interacting atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. Two weak links separate our ring-shaped superfluid atomtronic circuit into two distinct regions, a source and a drain. Motion of these weak links allows for creation of controlled flow between the source and the drain. At a critical value of the weak link velocity, we observe a transition from superfluid flow to superfluid plus resistive flow. Working in the hydrodynamic limit, we observe a conductivity that is 4 orders of magnitude larger than previously reported conductivities for a Bose-Einstein condensate with a tunnel junction. Good agreement with zero-temperature Gross-Pitaevskii simulations and a phenomenological model based on phase slips indicate that the creation of excitations plays an important role in the resulting conductivity. Our measurements of resistive flow elucidate the microscopic origin of the dissipation and pave the way for more complex atomtronic devices.

Comments

Authors have the right to use all or part of the Article, including the APS-prepared version without revision or modification, on the author(s)’ web home page or employer’s website. (source:http://journals.aps.org/authors/transfer-of-copyright-agreement). Article obtained from Physical Review Letters.

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