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arXiv:2505.01071 · Physical Review A

Forces on alkali Rydberg atoms due to nonlinearly polarized light

Anal Bhowmik, D. Blume

Published May 28, 2025• 2 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Trapped Rydberg atoms are highly promising candidates for quantum science experiments. While several approaches have been put forward to exert (trapping) forces on isolated Rydberg atoms, a widely applicable lossless technique is lacking. This paper proposes a robust versatile alternative technique that avoids lifetime compromising losses. Our proposal leverages the vector polarizability, which is induced by nonlinearly polarized light and is shown to be several orders of magnitude larger than the usual scalar and tensor polarizabilities for commonly used alkali Rydberg series such as the $nS$, $nP$, and $nD$ series with principal quantum number $n$ as low as 30. The resulting force can be used to trap isolated Rydberg atoms over long times, which constitutes a key advance that is expected to impact quantum simulation applications, as well as to generate large light--Rydberg-atom hybrid states, which possess nontrivial position-dependent forces.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.111.053120

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Trapped Rydberg atoms are highly promising candidates for quantum science experiments. While several approaches have been put forward to exert (trapping) forces on isolated Rydberg atoms, a widely applicable lossless technique is lacking. This paper proposes a robust versatile alternative technique that avoids lifetime compromising losses. Our proposal leverages the vector polarizability, which is induced by nonlinearly polarized light and is shown to be several orders of magnitude larger than the usual scalar and tensor polarizabilities for commonly used alkali Rydberg series such as the nSnSnS, nPnPnP, and nDnDnD series with principal quantum number nnn as low as 30. The resulting force can be used to trap isolated Rydberg atoms over long times, which constitutes a key advance that is expected to impact quantum simulation applications, as well as to generate large light--Rydberg-atom hybrid states, which possess nontrivial position-dependent forces.
Neutral-atom quantum simulation is susceptible to entanglement between the atom's internal electronic state and its center-of-mass position. In many alkali Rydberg platforms, the 'spin-motion coupling' is exacerbated by the free expansion required to avoid ponderomotive anti-trapping from optical fields. A recent proposal (arXiv:2505.01071) claims sufficiently excited Rydberg states could be trapped in a monochromatic, far-detuned, circularly polarized optical field by harnessing a large vector polarizability. We disprove the proposal through analytic calculation and measurement of the vector polarizability of the 54S54S54S, 54P54P54P, and 53D53D53D orbitals of Cesium. Regarding the optical angular frequency ωωω, we analytically derive that the scalar, vector, and tensor polarizabilities scale as ω−2ω^{-2}ω−2, ω−3ω^{-3}ω−3, and ω−4ω^{-4}ω−4, as opposed to the proposed scaling of ω−2ω^{-2}ω−2, ω−1ω^{-1}ω−1, and ω−2ω^{-2}ω−2. We refine the sum-over-states expression for vector and tensor polarizability to be numerically stable and predict negligible vector and tensor polarizabilities far detuned from resonances, in agreement with our measurements. However, we find vector polarizability can enhance a recent proposal for near-detuned attractive trapping. Furthermore, we evaluate the breakdown of the electric-dipole approximation and derive no effect stronger than ponderomotive repulsion. We conclude that an attractive, monochromatic, far-detuned optical trap for alkali Rydberg states is not possible, regardless of the beam geometry.
Neutral atom qubits with Rydberg-mediated interactions are a leading platform for developing large-scale coherent quantum systems. In the majority of experiments to date, the Rydberg states are not trapped by the same potential that confines ground state atoms, resulting in atom loss and constraints on the achievable interaction time. In this work, we demonstrate that the Rydberg states of an alkaline earth atom, ytterbium, can be stably trapped by the same red-detuned optical tweezer that also confines the ground state, by leveraging the polarizability of the Yb+^++ ion core. Using the previously unobserved \tripletS series, we demonstrate trapped Rydberg atom lifetimes exceeding 100 μ100\,μ100μs, and observe no evidence of auto- or photo-ionization from the trap light for these states. We measure a coherence time of T2=59T_2 = 59T2​=59 μμμs between two Rydberg levels, exceeding the 28 μμμs lifetime of untrapped Rydberg atoms under the same conditions. These results are promising for extending the interaction time of Rydberg atom arrays for quantum simulation and computing, and are vital to capitalize on the extended Rydberg lifetimes in circular states or cryogenic environments.
Neutral atom qubits with Rydberg-mediated interactions are a leading platform for developing large-scale coherent quantum systems. In the majority of experiments to date, the Rydberg states are not trapped by the same potential that confines ground state atoms, resulting in atom loss and constraints on the achievable interaction time. In this Letter, we demonstrate that the Rydberg states of an alkaline earth atom, ytterbium, can be stably trapped by the same red-detuned optical tweezer that also confines the ground state, by leveraging the polarizability of the Yb^{+} ion core. Using the previously unobserved ^{3}S_{1} series, we demonstrate trapped Rydberg atom lifetimes exceeding 100 μs, and observe no evidence of auto- or photoionization from the trap light for these states. We measure a coherence time of T_{2}=59 μs between two Rydberg levels, exceeding the 28 μs lifetime of untrapped Rydberg atoms under the same conditions. These results are promising for extending the interaction time of Rydberg atom arrays for quantum simulation and computing, and are vital to capitalize on the extended Rydberg lifetimes in circular states or cryogenic environments.
Summary form only given. Condensed-matter systems are interesting and important to understand, for fundamental science as well as towards more applied objectives in the development of new materials for instance. Unfortunately, these many-body quantum systems are difficult to study: both the theoretical approach and the numerical simulation are proving impossible to carry out to relevant system sizes. Quantum simulation proposes to mimic those out-of-reach systems with more controllable and accessible quantum systems. Rydberg atoms gained renewed interest in the last decades thanks to their very high polarizability, allowing for strong and tunable short-range interactions. They constitute an interesting candidate for a quantum simulation platform. However, low angular momentum Rydberg states have limited, despite relatively long, lifetimes which limit the scope of such a quantum simulator. Moreover, low-l Rydberg states cannot be efficiently laser-trapped. In order to overcome these limitations, we propose to use circular Rydberg states, i.e., of maximum angular momentum. Circular Rydberg states exhibit much longer lifetimes, and can be trapped using laser light. By placing the circular Rydberg atoms inside a spontaneous emission-inhibiting capacitor, we hope to achieve the deterministic preparation of a 1D-chain of 40 atoms, with a collective lifetime of over 2 seconds. With expected exchange energies in the 10-100 kHz range, this would provide a platform capable of simulating quantum many-body physics up to 105exchange times. The first step towards the experimental realization of such a quantum simulator is the demonstration of the laser-trapping of circular Rydberg atoms. To this end, we use a Laguerre-Gauss hollow beam at 1064 nm, imposing a ponderomotive potential on the nearly-free electron of the Rydberg atoms. I will present our latest experimental results of light-trapping of circular Rydberg atoms.
Ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices provide a versatile and robust platform to study fundamental condensed-matter physics problems and have applications in quantum optics as well as quantum information processing. For many of these applications, Rydberg atoms (atoms excited to large principal quantum numbers) are ideal due to its long coherence times and strong interactions. However, one of the pre-requisite for such applications is identical confinement of ground state atoms with Rydberg atoms. This is challenging for conventionally used alkali atoms. In this thesis, I discuss the potential of using alkaline-earth Rydberg atoms for many-body physics by implementing simultaneous trapping for the relevant internal states. In particular, I consider a scheme for generating multi-particle entanglement and explore charge transport in a one dimensional atomic lattice.
Calculations of the static electric-dipole scalar and tensor polarizabilities are presented for two alkali-metal atoms, Rb and Cs, for the $nS, n{P}_{\textonehalf{},\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}3/2}$, and nD3/2,5/2n{D}_{3/2,\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}5/2}nD3/2,5/2​ states with large principal quantum numbers up to n=50n=50n=50. The calculations are performed within an effective one-electron approximation, based on the Dirac-Fock Hamiltonian with a semiempirical core-polarization potential. The obtained results are compared with those from a simpler semiempirical approach and with available experimental data.