Experimental generation and dynamical reconfiguration of different circular optical lattices for applications in atom trapping

Different configurations of optical lattices with circular cylindrical geometry have been recently studied in the context of atom trapping from a theoretical viewpoint, giving rise to a number of proposed applications. A common problem for testing theoretical predictions is the difficulty in the experimental realization of some of the necessary optical potentials. Here we discuss the experimental generation of four different circular optical lattices in an efficient and simple way using a single spatial light modulator. Our approach allows switching between different light configurations with a time resolution given by the response time of the light modulator. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America