Direct Imaging of Spatially Modulated Superfluid Phases in Atomic Fermion Systems

It is proposed that the spatially modulated superfluid phase, or the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state could be observed in resonant Fermion atomic condensates which are realized recently. We examine optimal experimental setups to achieve it by solving Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation both for idealized one-dimensional and realistic three-dimensional cases. The spontaneous modulation of this superfluid is shown to be directly imaged as the density profiles either by optical absorption or by Stern-Gerlach experiments.