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arXiv:1306.0869 · Physical Review A

Exciton dynamics in emergent Rydberg lattices

Stefano Bettelli, Daniel Maxwell, T. Fernholz, Charles S. Adams, Igor Lesanovsky, Cenap Ates

Published Oct 31, 2013• 45 citations
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Abstract

The dynamics of excitons in a one-dimensional ensemble with partial spatial order are studied. During optical excitation, cold Rydberg atoms spontaneously organize into regular spatial arrangements due to their mutual interactions. This emergent lattice is used as the starting point to study resonant energy transfer triggered by driving a $nS$ to ${n}^{\ensuremath{'}}P$ transition using a microwave field. The dynamics are probed by detecting the survival probability of atoms in the $nS$ Rydberg state. Experimental data qualitatively agree with our theoretical predictions including the mapping onto the $XXZ$ spin model in the strong-driving limit. Our results suggest that emergent Rydberg lattices provide an ideal platform to study coherent energy transfer in structured media without the need for externally imposed potentials.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.88.043436

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The dynamics of excitons in a one-dimensional ensemble with partial spatial order are studied. During optical excitation, cold Rydberg atoms spontaneously organize into regular spatial arrangements due to their mutual interactions. This emergent lattice is used as the starting point to study resonant energy transfer triggered by driving a nSnSnS to n\ensuremath′P{n}^{\ensuremath{'}}Pn\ensuremath′P transition using a microwave field. The dynamics are probed by detecting the survival probability of atoms in the nSnSnS Rydberg state. Experimental data qualitatively agree with our theoretical predictions including the mapping onto the XXZXXZXXZ spin model in the strong-driving limit. Our results suggest that emergent Rydberg lattices provide an ideal platform to study coherent energy transfer in structured media without the need for externally imposed potentials.
We show that nuclear motion of Rydberg atoms can be induced by resonant dipole–dipole interactions that trigger the energy transfer between two energetically close Rydberg states. How and if the atoms move depends on their initial arrangement as well as on the initial electronic excitation. Using a mixed quantum/classical propagation scheme, we obtain the trajectories and kinetic energies of atoms, initially arranged in a regular chain and prepared in excitonic eigenstates. The influence of the off-diagonal disorder on the motion of the atoms is examined and it is shown that irregularity in the arrangement of the atoms can lead to an acceleration of the nuclear dynamics.
We show that nuclear motion of Rydberg atoms can be induced by resonant dipole–dipole interactions that trigger the energy transfer between two energetically close Rydberg states. How and if the atoms move depends on their initial arrangement as well as on the initial electronic excitation. Using a mixed quantum/classical propagation scheme, we obtain the trajectories and kinetic energies of atoms, initially arranged in a regular chain and prepared in excitonic eigenstates. The influence of the off-diagonal disorder on the motion of the atoms is examined and it is shown that irregularity in the arrangement of the atoms can lead to an acceleration of the nuclear dynamics.
The competition between resonant optical excitation of Rydberg states of atoms and their strong, long-range van der Waals interaction results in spatial ordering of Rydberg excitations in a two-dimensional lattice gas, as observed in a recent experiment of Schau\ss{} et al. [Nature (London) 491, 87 (2012)]. Here we use semiclassical Monte Carlo simulations to obtain stationary states for hundreds of atoms in finite-size lattices. We show the formation of regular spatial structures of Rydberg excitations in a system of increasing size, and find highly sub-Poissonian distribution of the number of Rydberg excitations characterized by a large negative value of the Mandel QQQ parameter which is nearly independent of the system size.
Far-from-equilibrium dynamics that lead to self-organization are highly relevant to complex dynamical systems not only in physics but also in life, earth, and social sciences.However, it is challenging to find systems with sufficiently controllable parameters that allow quantitatively modeling of emergent properties.Here, we study a nonequilibrium phase transition and observe signatures of self-organized criticality in a dilute thermal vapor of atoms optically excited to strongly interacting Rydberg states.Electromagnetically induced transparency provides excellent control over the population dynamics and enables highresolution probing of the driven-dissipative dynamics, which also exhibits phase bistability.Increased sensitivity compared to previous work allows us to reconstruct the complete phase diagram, including in the vicinity of the critical point.We observe that interaction-induced energy shifts and enhanced decay only occur in one of the phases above a critical Rydberg population.This case limits the application of generic mean-field models; however, a modified, threshold-dependent approach is in qualitative agreement with experimental data.Near threshold, we observe self-organized dynamics in the form of population jumps that return the density to a critical value.
Crystalline structures of highly excited Rydberg atoms can be a model for dilute metallic solids with tunable parameters, and provide access to the regime of strongly coupled systems. In practice, crystal creation is made difficult by the 'Rydberg blockade', where one atom in the Rydberg state shifts the energy levels of its neighbours out of resonance with the excitation laser. In our experiment, we can spatially detect Rydberg atoms by a combination of field-ionization, and subsequent acceleration of the remaining ions onto a multi-channel plate. In this way, we were able to determine the blockade radius from measuring second-order correlations. We have also made small ordered Rydberg structures by optically imprinting local excitations in a disordered atomic gas using a spatial light modulator. With this diffractive optical element it is possible to control the intensity of light in the far ¿eld and create almost any desired intensity pattern. We found that a Rydberg system with a dissipative mechanism can be mapped onto a set of rate equations that describe a wireless computer network. In these networks neighbouring transmitters have a similar blockade effect on each other. For the Rydberg system, we used mathematical tools developed for wireless networks, and applied this to optically imprinted square lattices.
In this dissertation, I explore several aspects of Rydberg physics with laser spectroscopy. The experiments center around the use of a very deep, cavity-generated, one-dimensional optical lattice in a cold atom sample. The optical lattice produces elongated clouds of dense, cold atoms via dipole trapping and is able to generate extreme light shifts in the atoms due to its high intensity. I describe experiments which may be divided into two main classes. In the first, I use the dipole trap to prepare a dense sample of atoms for photoassociation of Rb atom pairs into diatomic Rydberg molecules. The Rydberg molecules are formed by low-energy scattering of the Rydberg electron of one atom from the other atom, which is a ground-state atom. This novel binding mechanism also has relevance for chemical physics. I present binding energy measurements for eight different cases of Rydberg molecules. The binding energies reveal information about electron-atom collisions, such as their scattering lengths, and about the spin couplings present within the molecular system. In the second class of experiments, I introduce two proposed measurements in which the optical lattice is ramped to very high intensity during the laser excitation, creating AC Stark shifts in the transition frequencies. In one measurement, low-lying atomic states are probed. Measurements of the light shifts are expected to yield data on the dynamic polarizability and the photoionization cross section of the 5D3/2D_{3/2}D3/2​-state in rubidium in a 1064-nm light field. I show corresponding preliminary experimental data. The polarizability and photo-ionization cross-section measurements will provide tests of atomic structure theory, which is important both at a fundamental level and for applications such as atomic clocks. In another proposed measurement, Rydberg atoms in the lattice experience ponderomotive shifts and strong mixing of their angular-momentum states, allowing direct optical excitation of the lattice-mixed high-angular-momentum states. I describe the theoretical basis and experimental preparation for spectroscopically characterizing the lattice-mixed states. The ability to optically excite selected high-angular-momentum states without the use of static or RF fields may be useful for quantum information processing and simulation.