A stable phase-locking-free single beam optical lattice with multiple configurations

Optical lattices formed by interfering laser beams are widely used to trap and manipulate atoms for quantum simulation, metrology, and computation. To stabilize optical lattices in experiments, it is usually challenging to implement delicate phase-locking systems with complicated optics and electronics to reduce the relative phase fluctuation of multiple laser beams. Here, we report a phase-locking-free scheme to implement an optical lattice by passing a single laser beam through a prism with n-fold symmetric facets and large apex angles. The scheme ensures a stable optical lattice since the interference occurs among different deflected parts of a single laser beam. Various lattice configurations, including a triangular lattice and a quasi-crystalline lattice with tenfold symmetry, are demonstrated. In both cases, stability measurements show a change of lattice constant and a drift of lattice position of less than 1.14% and 1.61% relative to the lattice constant.