arXiv:1310.7561 · Physical Review Letters

Atomic Fock State Preparation Using Rydberg Blockade

Matthew Ebert, Alexander Gill, Michael Gibbons, Xianli Zhang, Mark E. Saffman, Thad G Walker

Published Jan 30, 2014• 87 citations

Abstract

We use coherent excitation of 3-16 atom ensembles to demonstrate collective Rabi flopping mediated by Rydberg blockade. Using calibrated atom number measurements, we quantitatively confirm the expected √N Rabi frequency enhancement to within 4%. The resulting atom number distributions are consistent with an essentially perfect blockade. We then use collective Rabi π pulses to produce N=1, 2 atom number Fock states with fidelities of 62% and 48%, respectively. The N=2 Fock state shows the collective Rabi frequency enhancement without corruption from atom number fluctuations.

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.112.043602

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