Towards Ultracold Fermions in the Optical Kagome Lattice*

Our efforts are focused on producing a degenerate fermi gas of ⁴⁰K atoms and loading it into an optical kagome lattice. This special lattice geometry is geometrically frustrated and exhibits a flat band that enhances interaction effects. Our system allows us to easily study many-body effects such as flat band ferromagnetism. We utilize a specific lattice setup that allows us to arbitrarily translate the lattice allowing for Floquet-type dynamics and wide-range manipulation of the quasimomentum. We describe experimental progress towards creating degenerate fermi gases of ⁴⁰K using sympathetic cooling with ⁸⁷Rb, loading a degenerate fermi gas into the optical kagome lattice and generating arbitrary lattice potentials. In addition, future directions of research are presented.