Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1511.06424 · Physical Review Letters

Resonant Rydberg Dressing of Alkaline-Earth Atoms via Electromagnetically Induced Transparency

Christopher Gaul, B. J. DeSalvo, J. A. Aman, F. B. Dunning, T. C. Killian, Thomas Pohl

Published Jun 17, 2016• 61 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We develop an approach to generate finite-range atomic interactions via optical Rydberg-state excitation and study the underlying excitation dynamics in theory and experiment. In contrast to previous work, the proposed scheme is based on resonant optical driving and the establishment of a dark state under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). Analyzing the driven dissipative dynamics of the atomic gas, we show that the interplay between coherent light coupling, radiative decay, and strong Rydberg-Rydberg atom interactions leads to the emergence of sizable effective interactions while providing remarkably long coherence times. The latter are studied experimentally in a cold gas of strontium atoms for which the proposed scheme is most efficient. Our measured atom loss is in agreement with the theoretical prediction based on binary effective interactions between the driven atoms.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.116.243001

Related papers

Many-Body Effects in Rydberg Gases : Coherent Dynamics of Strongly Interacting Two-Level Atoms and Nonlinear Optical Response of a Rydberg Gas in EIT Configuration

Martin Gärttner

Subject of this thesis is the theoretical investigation of ensembles of atoms that are coherently laser-excited to a Rydberg state. Rydberg excited atoms interact with each other over large distances, which leads to strongly correlated many-body dynamics, demanding powerful numerical tools for their modeling. The first part of the thesis deals with effective two-level atoms consisting of a ground and a Rydberg state only. For resonant laser excitation a modified scaling behavior of the excitation number is observed, which is caused by effects of finite system size and coarse graining of the medium due to the finite atomic density. For off-resonant excitation, ordered structures arise out of an initially homogeneous gas, which are reflected in strongly peaked spatial correlations and modified excitation statistics. In the second part a fast decaying intermediate level is additionally taken into account. In this situation the phenomenon of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is encountered. This effect is suppressed in the presence of strong interactions between the Rydberg atoms leading to an optical nonlinearity. A model predicting the properties of a cloud of Rydberg atoms in EIT configuration is developed. In both parts the models are validated by comparing their predictions to recent experimental observations.

•Jan 1, 2014•1 citation

Interfacing Rydberg atoms with light and observing their interaction driven dynamics

G. Günter

This thesis investigates new phenomena that arise when light is strongly coupled to an interacting atomic gas. For this, a new apparatus has been built which allows to create ultracold and dense atomic samples and to detect individual atoms in high-lying atomic states, so-called Rydberg atoms. Strong light-matter coupling is achieved using the collective coupling of the atomic cloud to the light field under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). In experiments on EIT involving non-interacting Rydberg states, we characterize the light-matter coupling and demonstrate the first combined optical and matter based probing of EIT. By coupling to strongly-interacting Rydberg states, we investigate the effect of interactions which we observe as a strong nonlinear optical \nresponse of the atomic gas as well as in the emergence of strong correlations between the hybrid quasiparticles associated with the strong light-matter coupling. We employ the nonlinear response of the atomic cloud to image Rydberg atoms immersed in the atomic cloud. In a theoretical proposal, we show that this novel imaging technique allows to investigate many-body Rydberg states with single particle sensitivity. Using the proposed imaging method, we demonstrate imaging of small numbers of Rydberg atoms with high time-resolution in single shot experiments. In experiments exploiting the dipolar exchange interaction between Rydberg atoms, we employ the new imaging technique to follow dipole-mediated transport of Rydberg excitations through the cloud. The transport dynamics is determined by the continuous spatial projection of the electronic quantum state under observation and features an emergent spatial scale of micrometer size induced by Rydberg-Rydberg interactions.

•Jan 1, 2014•0 citations

Spectral shift and dephasing of electromagnetically induced transparency in an interacting Rydberg gas

Jingshan Han, Thibault Vogt, Wenhui Li

We perform spectroscopic measurements of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a strongly interacting Rydberg gas. We observe a significant spectral shift and attenuation of the transparency resonance due to the presence of interactions between Rydberg atoms. We characterize the attenuation as the result of an effective dephasing and show that the shift and the dephasing rate increase versus atomic density, probe Rabi frequency, and principal quantum number of Rydberg states. Moreover, we find that the spectral shift is reduced if the size of a Gaussian atomic cloud is increased and that the dephasing rate increases with the EIT pulse duration at large-parameter regimes. We simulate our experiment with a semianalytical model, which yields results in good agreement with our experimental data.

arXiv:1603.00635•Physical Review A•Oct 6, 2016•27 citations

Electromagnetically induced transparency and absorption cross-over with a four-level Rydberg system

Yağız Oyun, Özgür Çakır, S. Sevinçli

Abstract Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and absorption (EIA) are quantum coherence phenomena which result from the interference of excitation pathways. Combining these with Rydberg atoms have opened up many possibilities for various applications. We introduce a theoretical model to study Rydberg-EIT and Rydberg-EIA effects in cold Cs and Rb atomic ensembles in a four-level ladder type scheme taking into account van der Waals type interactions between the atoms. The proposed many-body method for analysis of such systems involves a self-consistent mean field approach and it produces results which display a very good agreement with recent experiments. Our calculations also successfully demonstrate experimentally observed EIT-EIA cross-over in the Rb case. Being able to simulate the interaction effects in such systems has significant importance, especially for controlling the optical response of these.

arXiv:2109.12916•Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics•May 17, 2022•5 citations

Nonlinear absorption and density-dependent dephasing in Rydberg electromagnetically-induced-transparency media

Martin Gärttner, Jörg Evers

Light propagation through an ensemble of ultracold Rydberg atoms in an electromagnetically-induced-transparency (EIT) configuration is studied. In strongly interacting Rydberg EIT media, nonlinear optical effects lead to a nontrivial dependence of the degree of probe-beam attenuation on the medium density and on its initial intensity. We develop a Monte Carlo rate equation model that self-consistently includes the effect of the probe-beam attenuation to investigate the steady state of the Rydberg medium driven by two laser fields. We compare our results to recent experimental data and to results of other state-of-the-art models for light propagation in Rydberg EIT media. We find that for low probe field intensities, our results match the experimental data best if a density-dependent dephasing rate is included in the model. At higher probe intensities, our model deviates from other theoretical approaches, because it predicts a spectral asymmetry together with line broadening. These are likely due to off-resonant excitation channels, which, however, have not been observed in recent experiments. Atomic motion and coupling to additional Rydberg levels are discussed as possible origins for these deviations.

arXiv:1305.1458•Physical Review A•Sep 18, 2013•22 citations

Rydberg-induced optical nonlinearities from a cold atomic ensemble trapped inside a cavity

Rajiv Boddeda, Imam Usmani, Erwan Bimbard +4 more

Abstract We experimentally characterize the optical nonlinear response of a cold atomic medium placed inside an optical cavity, and excited to Rydberg states. The excitation to S and D Rydberg levels is carried out via a two-photon transition in an electromagnetically induced transparency configuration, with a weak (red) probe beam on the lower transition, and a strong (blue) coupling beam on the upper transition. The observed optical nonlinearities induced by S states for the probe beam can be explained using a semi-classical model with van der Waals’ interactions. For the D states, it appears necessary to take into account a dynamical decay of Rydberg excitations into a long-lived dark state. We show that the measured nonlinearities can be explained by using a Rydberg bubble model with a dynamical decay.

arXiv:1512.08480•Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics•Apr 5, 2016•40 citations
We develop an approach to generate finite-range atomic interactions via optical Rydberg-state excitation and study the underlying excitation dynamics in theory and experiment. In contrast to previous work, the proposed scheme is based on resonant optical driving and the establishment of a dark state under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). Analyzing the driven dissipative dynamics of the atomic gas, we show that the interplay between coherent light coupling, radiative decay, and strong Rydberg-Rydberg atom interactions leads to the emergence of sizable effective interactions while providing remarkably long coherence times. The latter are studied experimentally in a cold gas of strontium atoms for which the proposed scheme is most efficient. Our measured atom loss is in agreement with the theoretical prediction based on binary effective interactions between the driven atoms.
Subject of this thesis is the theoretical investigation of ensembles of atoms that are coherently laser-excited to a Rydberg state. Rydberg excited atoms interact with each other over large distances, which leads to strongly correlated many-body dynamics, demanding powerful numerical tools for their modeling. The first part of the thesis deals with effective two-level atoms consisting of a ground and a Rydberg state only. For resonant laser excitation a modified scaling behavior of the excitation number is observed, which is caused by effects of finite system size and coarse graining of the medium due to the finite atomic density. For off-resonant excitation, ordered structures arise out of an initially homogeneous gas, which are reflected in strongly peaked spatial correlations and modified excitation statistics. In the second part a fast decaying intermediate level is additionally taken into account. In this situation the phenomenon of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is encountered. This effect is suppressed in the presence of strong interactions between the Rydberg atoms leading to an optical nonlinearity. A model predicting the properties of a cloud of Rydberg atoms in EIT configuration is developed. In both parts the models are validated by comparing their predictions to recent experimental observations.
This thesis investigates new phenomena that arise when light is strongly coupled to an interacting atomic gas. For this, a new apparatus has been built which allows to create ultracold and dense atomic samples and to detect individual atoms in high-lying atomic states, so-called Rydberg atoms. Strong light-matter coupling is achieved using the collective coupling of the atomic cloud to the light field under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). In experiments on EIT involving non-interacting Rydberg states, we characterize the light-matter coupling and demonstrate the first combined optical and matter based probing of EIT. By coupling to strongly-interacting Rydberg states, we investigate the effect of interactions which we observe as a strong nonlinear optical \nresponse of the atomic gas as well as in the emergence of strong correlations between the hybrid quasiparticles associated with the strong light-matter coupling. We employ the nonlinear response of the atomic cloud to image Rydberg atoms immersed in the atomic cloud. In a theoretical proposal, we show that this novel imaging technique allows to investigate many-body Rydberg states with single particle sensitivity. Using the proposed imaging method, we demonstrate imaging of small numbers of Rydberg atoms with high time-resolution in single shot experiments. In experiments exploiting the dipolar exchange interaction between Rydberg atoms, we employ the new imaging technique to follow dipole-mediated transport of Rydberg excitations through the cloud. The transport dynamics is determined by the continuous spatial projection of the electronic quantum state under observation and features an emergent spatial scale of micrometer size induced by Rydberg-Rydberg interactions.
We perform spectroscopic measurements of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a strongly interacting Rydberg gas. We observe a significant spectral shift and attenuation of the transparency resonance due to the presence of interactions between Rydberg atoms. We characterize the attenuation as the result of an effective dephasing and show that the shift and the dephasing rate increase versus atomic density, probe Rabi frequency, and principal quantum number of Rydberg states. Moreover, we find that the spectral shift is reduced if the size of a Gaussian atomic cloud is increased and that the dephasing rate increases with the EIT pulse duration at large-parameter regimes. We simulate our experiment with a semianalytical model, which yields results in good agreement with our experimental data.
Abstract Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and absorption (EIA) are quantum coherence phenomena which result from the interference of excitation pathways. Combining these with Rydberg atoms have opened up many possibilities for various applications. We introduce a theoretical model to study Rydberg-EIT and Rydberg-EIA effects in cold Cs and Rb atomic ensembles in a four-level ladder type scheme taking into account van der Waals type interactions between the atoms. The proposed many-body method for analysis of such systems involves a self-consistent mean field approach and it produces results which display a very good agreement with recent experiments. Our calculations also successfully demonstrate experimentally observed EIT-EIA cross-over in the Rb case. Being able to simulate the interaction effects in such systems has significant importance, especially for controlling the optical response of these.
Light propagation through an ensemble of ultracold Rydberg atoms in an electromagnetically-induced-transparency (EIT) configuration is studied. In strongly interacting Rydberg EIT media, nonlinear optical effects lead to a nontrivial dependence of the degree of probe-beam attenuation on the medium density and on its initial intensity. We develop a Monte Carlo rate equation model that self-consistently includes the effect of the probe-beam attenuation to investigate the steady state of the Rydberg medium driven by two laser fields. We compare our results to recent experimental data and to results of other state-of-the-art models for light propagation in Rydberg EIT media. We find that for low probe field intensities, our results match the experimental data best if a density-dependent dephasing rate is included in the model. At higher probe intensities, our model deviates from other theoretical approaches, because it predicts a spectral asymmetry together with line broadening. These are likely due to off-resonant excitation channels, which, however, have not been observed in recent experiments. Atomic motion and coupling to additional Rydberg levels are discussed as possible origins for these deviations.
Abstract We experimentally characterize the optical nonlinear response of a cold atomic medium placed inside an optical cavity, and excited to Rydberg states. The excitation to S and D Rydberg levels is carried out via a two-photon transition in an electromagnetically induced transparency configuration, with a weak (red) probe beam on the lower transition, and a strong (blue) coupling beam on the upper transition. The observed optical nonlinearities induced by S states for the probe beam can be explained using a semi-classical model with van der Waals’ interactions. For the D states, it appears necessary to take into account a dynamical decay of Rydberg excitations into a long-lived dark state. We show that the measured nonlinearities can be explained by using a Rydberg bubble model with a dynamical decay.