Realization of^(87)Rb Bose–Einstein Condensates in Higher Bands of a Hexagonal Boron-Nitride Optical Lattice

Ultracold neutral atoms in higher bands of an optical lattice provide a natural avenue to emulate orbital physics in solid state materials.Here,we report the realization of^(87)Rb Bose-Einstein condensates in the fourth and seventh Bloch bands of a hexagonal boron-nitride optical lattice,exhibiting remarkably long coherence time through active cooling.Using band mapping spectroscopy,we observe that atoms condensed at the energy minimum of L point(K_(1)and K_(2)points)in the fourth(seventh)band as sharp Bragg peaks.The lifetime for the condensate in the fourth(seventh)band is about 57.6(4.8)ms,and the phase coherence of atoms in the fourth band persists for a long time larger than 110 ms.Our work thus offers great promise for studying unconventional bosonic superfluidity of neutral atoms in higher bands of optical lattices.