Owing to their many valence electrons, lanthanide atoms such as erbium and dysprosium feature many benefits for studying quantum simulation, such as large magnetic moment, rich Feshbach resonance, a wide range of excitation spectrum, and long-lived spin–orbit coupling. Experiments including extended Bose–Hubbard model [1], quantum droplets [2, 3], and supersolid phases [4, 5, 6] have been actively studied with the quantum degenerate gas made by lanthanide atoms. However, it is still challenging to realize Bose–Einstein condensates (BEC) of erbium in a small chamber that is compatible with a high numerical aperture (NA) objective lens. One of the main challenges is the high operating temperature of the oven for generating a sufficient vapor pressure. Mostly, a strong Zeeman slowing beam...[ Read more ]

Owing to their many valence electrons, lanthanide atoms such as erbium and dysprosium feature many benefits for studying quantum simulation, such as large magnetic moment, rich Feshbach resonance, a wide range of excitation spectrum, and long-lived spin–orbit coupling. Experiments including extended Bose–Hubbard model [1], quantum droplets [2, 3], and supersolid phases [4, 5, 6] have been actively studied with the quantum degenerate gas made by lanthanide atoms. However, it is still challenging to realize Bose–Einstein condensates (BEC) of erbium in a small chamber that is compatible with a high numerical aperture (NA) objective lens. One of the main challenges is the high operating temperature of the oven for generating a sufficient vapor pressure. Mostly, a strong Zeeman slowing beam with a broad-linewidth transition beam is used, but it also induces a strong scattering in the magneto-optical trap (MOT). Therefore, a large chamber is required to move MOT away from the Zeeman slower. In this thesis, I present how we overcame common problems during the creation of an erbium BEC with a two-stage slowing scheme. After an evaporation cooling, we obtained 25,000 erbium atoms at 51 nK. Additionally, I present a study of superradiance with the erbium BEC. Since super-radiance was first observed with BECs, it has been challenging to control. Owing to the distinctive features of erbium, such as a large orbital angular momentum, dipole–dipole interaction (DDI), and magnetic Feshbach resonance, I introduce two new methods for controlling the superradiance. The asymmetry in superradiance occurs with erbium, and it can be controlled by rotating the magnetic field. This asymmetry may be emerged due to the anisotropic atom-light interaction or the anisotropic DDI. Additionally, superradiance can be suppressed by inducing a phase fluctuation with magnetic Feshbach resonance.