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arXiv:2409.13469 · Physical Review Research

Vibrationally coupled Rydberg atom-ion molecules

Ilango Maran, Liam J. Bond, Jeremy T. Young, Arghavan Safavi-Naini, R. Gerritsma

Published May 2, 2025• 1 citation
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Abstract

We study the occurrence of Rydberg atom-ion molecules (RAIMs) in a hybrid atom-ion system with an ion crystal trapped in a Paul trap coupled to Rydberg atoms on its either ends. To assess the feasibility of such a system, we perform a detailed Floquet analysis of the effect of the Paul trap's rf potential on the RAIMs and provide a qualitative analysis of the survival probability based on scaling laws. We conclude that the RAIM survives for sufficiently weak and low-frequency traps. We then use this hybrid system and propose a scheme to utilize the common motional modes of the ion crystal to suppress (blockade) or enhance (antiblockade) the probability of forming two RAIMs at the ends of the chain, replacing the typical blockade radius by the length of the ion crystal.

DOI
10.1103/physrevresearch.7.l022028

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We study the occurrence of Rydberg atom-ion molecules (RAIMs) in a hybrid atom-ion system with an ion crystal trapped in a Paul trap coupled to Rydberg atoms on its either ends. To assess the feasibility of such a system, we perform a detailed Floquet analysis of the effect of the Paul trap's rf potential on the RAIMs and provide a qualitative analysis of the survival probability based on scaling laws. We conclude that the RAIM survives for sufficiently weak and low-frequency traps. We then use this hybrid system and propose a scheme to utilize the common motional modes of the ion crystal to suppress (blockade) or enhance (antiblockade) the probability of forming two RAIMs at the ends of the chain, replacing the typical blockade radius by the length of the ion crystal.
Hybrid quantum systems combining neutral atoms and trapped ions offer the prospect of integrating the scalability of atom arrays with the high-fidelity control available in trapped-ion platforms. Here we propose and analyze a quantum interface between individually trapped neutral atoms and a trapped-ion crystal. In our scheme, a neutral 88Sr atom trapped in optical tweezers interacts with a small 88Sr+ ion crystal, and by exciting the atom to a Rydberg state, the atom-ion polarization interaction is strongly enhanced, resulting in a state-dependent modification of the ions' collective motional modes. We show that this shift enables conditional control of a MS gate, allowing the neutral atom to act as a control qubit for an entangling operation between two ions. We investigate the feasibility of the scheme by analyzing Rydberg trapping in the combined optical tweezers and Paul trap potentials, identifying negative-polarizability Rydberg states as particularly favorable for stable confinement. We further evaluate the relevant trapping conditions, Rydberg lifetimes, and coherence requirements, and show that the proposed interface is compatible with realistic experimental parameters. These results establish a practical route toward deterministic atom-ion hybrid quantum gates and quantum interfaces.
We propose a novel type of Rydberg dimer, consisting of a Rydberg-state atom bound to a distant positive ion.The molecule is formed through long-range electric-multipole interaction between the Rydberg atom and the pointlike ion.We present potential energy curves (PECs) that are asymptotically connected with Rydberg nP or nD states of rubidium or cesium.The PECs exhibit deep, long-range wells which support many vibrational states of Rydberg-atom-ion molecules (RAIMs).We consider photoassociation of RAIMs in both the weak and the strong optical-coupling regimes between initial and Rydberg states of the neutral atom.Experimental considerations for the realization of RAIMs are discussed.
Trapped Rydberg ions represent a flexible platform for quantum simulation and information processing that combines a high degree of control over electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom. The possibility to individually excite ions to high-lying Rydberg levels provides a system where strong interactions between pairs of excited ions can be engineered and tuned via external laser fields. We show that the coupling between Rydberg pair interactions and collective motional modes gives rise to effective long-range and multibody interactions consisting of two, three, and four-body terms. Their shape, strength, and range can be controlled via the ion trap parameters and strongly depends on both the equilibrium configuration and vibrational modes of the ion crystal. By focusing on an experimentally feasible quasi one-dimensional setup of ^{88}Sr^{+} Rydberg ions, we demonstrate that multibody interactions are enhanced by the emergence of soft modes associated with, e.g., a structural phase transition. This has a striking impact on many-body electronic states and results-for example-in a three-body antiblockade effect that can be employed as a sensitive probe to detect structural phase transitions in Rydberg ion chains. Our study unveils the possibilities offered by trapped Rydberg ions for studying exotic phases of matter and quantum dynamics driven by enhanced multibody interactions.
The decay of Rydberg-atom--ion molecules (RAIMs) due to nonadiabatic couplings between electronic potential-energy surfaces is investigated. We employ the Born-Huang representation and perform numerical simulations using a Crank-Nicolson algorithm. The nonadiabatic lifetimes of rubidium RAIMs for the lowest ten vibrational states, $\ensuremath{\nu}$, are computed for selected Rydberg principal quantum numbers, nnn. The nonadiabatic lifetimes are found to generally exceed the radiative Rydberg-atom lifetimes. We observe and explain a trend of the lifetimes as a function of $\ensuremath{\nu}$ and nnn, and attribute irregularities to quantum interference arising from a shallow potential well in an inner potential surface. Our results will be useful for future spectroscopic studies of RAIMs.
When molecular ions are trapped together with atomic ions in a Paul trap, their dipole moment couples the molecular rotation to the joint vibrational motion of the particles in the trap. To leverage this coupling for quantum control, a rotational transition in the molecule should be resonant with one of the ion crystal vibrational modes. Focusing on the example of singly charged thorium fluoride molecular ions, cotrapped with two ytterbium ions, we determine the conditions for resonant dipole-phonon coupling, fully accounting for the molecular hyperfine structure. We identify several choices for resonant coupling and discuss its detection using sideband-resolved laser spectroscopy and measurements of decoherence.
Atoms and ions confined with electric and optical fields form the basis of many current quantum simulation and computing platforms. When excited to high-lying Rydberg states, long-ranged dipole interactions emerge which strongly couple the electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom through state-dependent forces. This vibronic coupling and the ensuing hybridization of internal and external degrees of freedom manifest through clear signatures in the many-body spectrum. We illustrate this by considering the case of two trapped Rydberg ions, for which the interaction between the relative vibrations and Rydberg states realizes a quantum Rabi model. We proceed to demonstrate that the aforementioned hybridization can be probed by radio frequency spectroscopy and discuss observable spectral signatures at finite temperatures and for larger ion crystals.