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arXiv:1402.4077 · Physical Review Letters

Demonstration of a Strong Rydberg Blockade in Three-Atom Systems with Anisotropic Interactions

Daniel Barredo, Sylvain Ravets, Henning Labuhn, Lucas Béguin, Aline Vernier, Florence Nogrette, Thierry Lahaye, Antoine Browaeys

Published May 8, 2014• 129 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We study the Rydberg blockade in a system of three atoms arranged in different two-dimensional geometries (linear and triangular configurations). In the strong blockade regime, we observe high-contrast, coherent collective oscillations of the single excitation probability and an almost perfect van der Waals blockade. Our data are consistent with a total population in doubly and triply excited states below 2%. In the partial blockade regime, we directly observe the anisotropy of the van der Waals interactions between |nD> Rydberg states in the triangular configuration. A simple model that only uses independently measured two-body van der Waals interactions fully reproduces the dynamics of the system without any adjustable parameter. These results are extremely promising for scalable quantum information processing and quantum simulation with neutral atoms.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.112.183002

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We study the Rydberg blockade in a system of three atoms arranged in different two-dimensional geometries (linear and triangular configurations). In the strong blockade regime, we observe high-contrast, coherent collective oscillations of the single excitation probability and an almost perfect van der Waals blockade. Our data are consistent with a total population in doubly and triply excited states below 2%. In the partial blockade regime, we directly observe the anisotropy of the van der Waals interactions between |nD> Rydberg states in the triangular configuration. A simple model that only uses independently measured two-body van der Waals interactions fully reproduces the dynamics of the system without any adjustable parameter. These results are extremely promising for scalable quantum information processing and quantum simulation with neutral atoms.
We report the direct measurement of the van der Waals interaction between two isolated, single Rydberg atoms separated by a controlled distance of a few micrometers.Working in a regime where the single-atom Rabi frequency for excitation to the Rydberg state is comparable to the interaction, we observe partial Rydberg blockade, whereby the time-dependent populations of the various two-atom states exhibit coherent oscillations with several frequencies.Quantitative comparison of the data with a simple model based on the optical Bloch equations allows us to extract the van der Waals energy, and observe its characteristic C 6 =R 6 dependence.The measured C 6 coefficients agree well with ab initio calculations, and we observe their dramatic increase with the principal quantum number n of the Rydberg state.
We report the direct measurement of the van der Waals interaction between two isolated, single Rydberg atoms separated by a controlled distance of a few micrometers. Working in a regime where the single-atom Rabi frequency for excitation to the Rydberg state is comparable to the interaction, we observe partial Rydberg blockade, whereby the time-dependent populations of the various two-atom states exhibit coherent oscillations with several frequencies. Quantitative comparison of the data with a simple model based on the optical Bloch equations allows us to extract the van der Waals energy, and observe its characteristic C6/R6 dependence. The measured C6 coefficients agree well with ab initio calculations, and we observe their dramatic increase with the principal quantum number n of the Rydberg state.
We report on the direct measurement of the van der Waals interaction between two isolated, single Rydberg atoms separated by a controlled distance of a few micrometers. By working in a regime where the single-atom Rabi frequency of the laser used for excitation to the Rydberg state is comparable to the interaction energy, we observe a \emph{partial} Rydberg blockade, whereby the time-dependent populations of the various two-atom states exhibit coherent oscillations with several frequencies. A quantitative comparison of the data with a simple model based on the optical Bloch equations allows us to extract the van der Waals energy, and to observe its characteristic C6/R6C_6/R^6C6​/R6 dependence. The magnitude of the measured C6C_6C6​ coefficient agrees well with an \emph{ab-initio} theoretical calculation, and we observe its dramatic increase with the principal quantum number nnn of the Rydberg state. Our results not only allow to test an important physical law, but also demonstrate a degree of experimental control which opens new perspectives in quantum information processing and quantum simulation using long-range interactions between the atoms.
We investigate the collective excitation effect in a scheme where three identical Rydberg atoms are arranged in an equilateral triangular lattice. By using a static electric field polarizing the atomic dipoles, the dipole–dipole interactions between two Rydberg atoms are essentially anisotropic and can even disappear in several special resonance cases. For that fact, we observe the collectively enhanced excitation probability of a single Rydberg atom in resonant areas in the case of strong blockade, and that of double or triple Rydberg atoms in the case of partial blockade. To give more evidence for this collective excitation enhancement, we study the two-body quantum correlation between three Rydberg atoms, as well as the dependence of the blockade radius on the length of triangle sides, which present a good agreement with the excitation properties.
Resonant laser excitation of multiple Rydberg atoms are prohibited, leading to Rydberg blockade, when the long-range van der Waals interactions are stronger than the laser-atom coupling. Rydberg blockade can be violated, i.e., simultaneous excitation of more than one Rydberg atom, by off-resonant laser excitation, causing an excitation antiblockade. Rydberg antiblockade gives rise to strongly correlated many-body dynamics and spin-orbit coupling and also finds quantum computation applications. Instead of commonly used van der Waals interactions, we investigate antiblockade dynamics of two Rydberg atoms interacting via dipole-dipole exchange interactions. We study typical situations in current Rydberg atom experiments, where different types of dipole-dipole interactions can be achieved by varying Rydberg state couplings. An effective Hamiltonian governing underlying antiblockade dynamics is derived. We illustrate that geometric gates can be realized with the Rydberg antiblockade which is robust against the decay of Rydberg states. Our study may stimulate new experimental and theoretical exploration of quantum optics and strongly interacting many-body dynamics with Rydberg antiblockade driven by dipole-dipole interactions.