Eur. Phys. J. D 65, 133-139 (2011)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2011-20094-3

Regular Article

Density waves in layered systems with fermionic polar molecules

Department of Physics and Astronomy - Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade, bygn. 1520, 8000 Århus C, Denmark

^a e-mail: zinner@phys.au.dk

Received: 7 February 2011
Received in final form: 13 May 2011
Published online: 29 September 2011

Abstract

A layered system of two-dimensional planes containing fermionic polar molecules can potentially realize a number of exotic quantum many-body states. Among the predictions, are density-wave instabilities driven by the anisotropic part of the dipole-dipole interaction in a single layer. However, in typical multilayer setups it is reasonable to expect that the onset and properties of a density-wave are modified by adjacent layers. Here we show that this is indeed the case. For multiple layers the critical strength for the density-wave instability decreases with the number of layers. The effect depends on density and is more pronounced in the low density regime. The lowest solution of the instability corresponds to the density waves in the different layers being in-phase, whereas higher solutions have one or several adjacent layers that are out of phase. The parameter regime needed to explore this instability is within reach of current experiments.