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arXiv:1707.01382 · Physical Review A

Deexcitation spectroscopy of strongly interacting Rydberg gases

Cristiano Simonelli, Matteo Archimi, Luca Asteria, Deborah Capecchi, Guido Masella, E. Arimondo, D. Ciampini, O. Morsch

Published Oct 12, 2017• 15 citations
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Abstract

We present experimental results on the controlled deexcitation of Rydberg states in a cold gas of Rb atoms. The effect of the van der Waals interactions between the Rydberg atoms is clearly seen in the deexcitation spectrum and dynamics. Our observations are confirmed by numerical simulations. In particular, for off-resonant (facilitated) excitation we find that the deexcitation spectrum reflects the spatial arrangement of the atoms in the quasi-one-dimensional geometry of our experiment. We discuss future applications of this technique and implications for detection and controlled dissipation schemes.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.96.043411

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We present experimental results on the controlled deexcitation of Rydberg states in a cold gas of Rb atoms. The effect of the van der Waals interactions between the Rydberg atoms is clearly seen in the deexcitation spectrum and dynamics. Our observations are confirmed by numerical simulations. In particular, for off-resonant (facilitated) excitation we find that the deexcitation spectrum reflects the spatial arrangement of the atoms in the quasi-one-dimensional geometry of our experiment. We discuss future applications of this technique and implications for detection and controlled dissipation schemes.
The strong interactions between Rydberg excitations can result in spatial correlations between the excitations. The ability to control the interaction strength and the correlations between Rydberg atoms is applicable in future technological implementations of quantum computation. In this thesis, I investigates how both the character of the Rydberg-Rydberg interactions and the details of the excitation process affect the nature of the spatial correlations and the evolution of those correlations in time. I first describes the experimental apparatus and methods used to perform high-magnification Rydberg-atom imaging, as well as three experiments in which these methods play an important role. The obtained Rydberg-atom positions reveal the correlations in the many-body Rydberg-atom system and their time dependence with sub-micron spatial resolution. In the first experiment, atoms are excited to a Rydberg state that experiences a repulsive van der Waals interaction. The Rydberg excitations are prepared with a well-defined initial separation, and the effect of van der Waals forces is observed by tracking the interatomic distance between the Rydberg atoms. The atom trajectories and thereby the interaction coefficient C6 are extracted from the pair correlation functions of the Rydberg atom positions. In the second experiment, the Rydberg atoms are prepared in a highly dipolar state by using adiabatic state transformation. The atom-pair kinetics that follow from the strong dipole-dipole interactions are observed. The pair correlation results provide the first direct visualization of the electric-dipole interaction and clearly exhibit its anisotropic nature. In both the first and the second experiment, results of semi-classical simulations of the atom-pair trajectories agree well with the experimental data. In the analysis, I use energy conservation and measurements of the initial positions and the terminal velocities of the atom pairs to extract the C6 and C3 interaction coefficients. The final experiment demonstrates the ability to enhance or suppress the degree of spatial correlation in a system of Rydberg excitations, using a rotary-echo excitation process in concert with particular excitation laser detunings. The work in this thesis demonstrates an ability to control long-range interactions between Rydberg atoms, which paves the way towards preparing and studying increasingly complex many-body systems.
We experimentally and theoretically investigate the dephasing rates of the coherent evolution of a resonantly driven pseudo spin emersed in a reservoir of pseudo spins. The pseudo spin is realized by optically exciting 87 Rb atoms into a Rydberg state. Hence, the upper spin states are coupled via the strong van der Waals interaction. Two different experimental techniques to measure the dephasing rates are shown: the 'rotary echo' technique, known from nuclear magnetic resonance physics, and electromagnetically induced transparency. The experiments are performed in a dense frozen Rydberg gas, either confined in a magnetic trap or in an optical dipole trap. Additionally, a numerical simulation is used to analyse the dephasing in the rotary echo experiments.
Van der Waals interactions between ultracold atoms excited to high-lying Rydberg states can lead to \nstrongly correlated excitation dynamics [1]. In my talk I will present a direct observation in real space \nof the mechanical effect of the van der Waals force on individual Rydberg atoms excited at close range \n[2]. Clusters of Rydberg atoms are created by first generating a small number of seed excitations in a \nmagneto-optical trap, followed by off-resonant excitation that leads to a chain of facilitated excitation \nevents. Our experimental results agree well with a numerical simulation of the van der Waals explosion.
We report on the observation of ultralong range interactions in a gas of cold rubidium Rydberg atoms. The van der Waals interaction between a pair of Rydberg atoms separated as far as 100,000 Bohr radii features two important effects: spectral broadening of the resonance lines and suppression of excitation with increasing density. The density dependence of these effects is investigated in detail for the S- and P-Rydberg states with principal quantum numbers n approximately 60 and n approximately 80 excited by narrow-band continuous-wave laser light. The density-dependent suppression of excitation can be interpreted as the onset of an interaction-induced local blockade.
We present evidence for molecular resonances in a cold dense gas of rubidium Rydberg atoms. Single UV photon excitation from the 5s ground state to np Rydberg states (n=50-90) reveals resonances at energies corresponding to excited atom pairs (n-1)d+ns. We attribute these normally forbidden transitions to avoided crossings between the long-range molecular potentials of two Rydberg atoms. These strong van der Waals interactions result in avoided crossings at extremely long range, e.g., approximately 58 000 times the Bohr radius (a(0)) for n=70.
The energy level spectrum of a many-body system containing two shared, collective Rydberg excitations is measured using cold atoms in an optical dipole trap. Two pairs of independently tunable laser pulses are employed to spectroscopically probe the spectrum in a double-resonance excitation scheme. Depending on the magnitude of an applied electric field, the Rydberg-atom interactions can vary from resonant dipole-dipole to attractive or repulsive van der Waals, leading to characteristic signatures in the measured spectra. Our results agree with theoretical estimates of the magnitude and sign of the interactions.