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arXiv:1106.6275 · Physical Review A

Interaction-induced stabilization of circular Rydberg atoms

Bernd Hezel, Michael Mayle, Peter Schmelcher

Published Dec 2, 2011• 2 citations
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Abstract

We discuss a candidate solution for the controlled trapping and manipulation of two individual Rydberg atoms by means of a magnetic Ioffe-Pritchard trap that is superimposed by a constant electric field. In such a trap Rydberg atoms experience a permanent electric dipole moment that can be of the order of several hundred debye. The interplay of electric dipolar repulsion and three-dimensional magnetic confinement leads to a well controllable equilibrium configuration with tunable trap frequency and atomic distance. We thoroughly investigate the trapping potentials and analyze the interaction-induced stabilization of two such trapped Rydberg atoms. Possible limitations and collapse scenarios are discussed.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.84.063402

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We discuss a candidate solution for the controlled trapping and manipulation of two individual Rydberg atoms by means of a magnetic Ioffe-Pritchard trap that is superimposed by a constant electric field. In such a trap Rydberg atoms experience a permanent electric dipole moment that can be of the order of several hundred debye. The interplay of electric dipolar repulsion and three-dimensional magnetic confinement leads to a well controllable equilibrium configuration with tunable trap frequency and atomic distance. We thoroughly investigate the trapping potentials and analyze the interaction-induced stabilization of two such trapped Rydberg atoms. Possible limitations and collapse scenarios are discussed.
We study the quantum properties of Rydberg atoms in a magnetic Ioffe-Pritchard trap which is superimposed by a homogeneous electric field. Trapped Rydberg atoms can be created in long-lived electronic states exhibiting a permanent electric dipole moment of several hundred Debye. The resulting dipole-dipole interaction in conjunction with the radial confinement is demonstrated to give rise to an effectively one-dimensional ultracold Rydberg gas with a macroscopic interparticle distance. We derive analytical expressions for the electric dipole moment and the required linear density of Rydberg atoms.
Interaction-induced stabilization of ultracold Rydberg atoms in a Ioffe-Pritchard trap — Subject of this thesis is a theoretical investigation of the quantum properties of highly excited atoms in an inhomogeneous magnetic field configuration. It is demonstrated how the large size of the Rydberg atoms alters the coupling to strong magnetic gradients. We find that Rydberg atoms can be tightly trapped in long-lived electronic states. This confinement permits the creation of a one-dimensional Rydberg gas stabilized against auto-ionization by a dipolar repulsion between the atoms, which is generated imposing a homogeneous electric field. This strongly anisotropic interaction is also responsible for a well controllable equilibrium configuration of two Rydberg atoms in the trap whose distance can be changed by tuning the electric field.
Circular Rydberg atoms (CRAs), i.e., Rydberg atoms with maximal orbital momentum, ideally combine long coherence times and strong interactions, a key property of quantum systems, in particular for the development of quantum technologies. However, the dipole-dipole interaction between CRAs has not been observed so far. We report the measurement and characterization of the resonant dipole-dipole interaction between two CRAs, individually trapped in optical tweezers, and find excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. We demonstrate a dynamic control over the strength of the interaction by tuning the orientation of an electric field. We use the interaction between the CRAs as a meter for the interatomic distance, and record the relative motion between two atoms in their traps. This motion, that we induce through the interaction between Rydberg levels with permanent electric dipoles, transiently populated during the preparation of the circular states, is a signature of spin-motion coupling.
We discuss the control of dipole-dipole interactions in a frozen assembly of Rydberg atoms. We report the evidence of dipole blockade of the Rydberg excitation for two configurations: dipole blockade induced by electric field and dipole blockade in Förster resonance. We demonstrate that two individual atoms separated by ∼ 4 μm can act as a collective dipole if their interaction is strong enough to be in the dipole blockade regime. This observation is crucial for the quantum entanglement of two or more atoms using dipole-dipole interaction. The dipole-dipole interactions between Rydberg atoms are also responsible for Penning ionization leading to the formation of an ultracold plasma. We have demonstrated that Penning ionization of np Rydberg cesium atoms can be prevented by considering repulsive dipole-dipole interactions.
We discuss the properties of Rydberg atoms in a magnetic Ioffe-Pritchard trap being commonly used in ultracold atomic physics experiments. The Hamiltonian is derived, and it is demonstrated how tight traps alter the coupling of the atom to the magnetic field. We solve the underlying Schrödinger equation of the system within a given n manifold and show that for a sufficiently large Ioffe field strength the 2n;{2}-dimensional system of coupled Schrödinger equations decays into several decoupled multicomponent equations governing the center of mass motion. An analysis of the fully quantized center of mass and electronic states is undertaken. In particular, we discuss the situation of tight center of mass confinement outlining the procedure to generate a low-dimensional ultracold Rydberg gas.
We discuss the properties of ultracold Rydberg atoms in a Ioffe-Pritchard magnetic field configuration. The derived two-body Hamiltonian unveils how the large size of Rydberg atoms affects their coupling to the inhomogeneous magnetic field. The properties of the compound electronic and center of mass quantum states are thoroughly analyzed. We find very tight confinement of the center of mass motion in two dimensions to be achievable while barely changing the electronic structure compared to the field free case. This paves the way for generating a one-dimensional ultracold Rydberg gas.