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arXiv:2506.05656 · Physical Review Applied

Effects of inert background gases and photoillumination on three-color electromagnetically induced transparency of rubidium vapor

Alisher Duspayev, Bineet Dash, Georg A. Raithel

Published Sep 18, 2025• 6 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Three-color Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of room-temperature $\mathrm{Rb}$ vapor in the presence of inert gases ($\mathrm{Ar}$, $\mathrm{Ne}$, and ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$) at 50 and 500 mTorr is investigated. The observed EIT lines shift and develop blue-detuned satellite lines, dependent on inert-gas species and pressure. The separations of the satellite from the main EIT lines are approximately pressure-independent, while their strength increases with inert-gas pressure. The satellite lines are attributed to hyperfine collisions of the intermediate $5{D}_{3/2}$ state. Further, analyzing the Stark effect of Rydberg levels, it is found that the inert gases suppress static electric fields in the vapor cells, which we induce by photoillumination of the cell walls with an auxiliary 453-nm laser. In the work, we utilize Rydberg levels with principal quantum numbers $n=25$ and $50$ and angular momenta $\ensuremath{\ell}=3$ up to 6, excited by the EIT lasers and optional radio-frequency dressing fields. The work is of interest in the spectroscopic study of mixed-species warm vapors, in sensing applications of Rydberg atoms in vapor cells, and in noninvasive electric-field diagnostics of low-pressure discharge plasma.

DOI
10.1103/fyf8-4wml

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Three-color Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of room-temperature Rb\mathrm{Rb}Rb vapor in the presence of inert gases (Ar\mathrm{Ar}Ar, Ne\mathrm{Ne}Ne, and N2{\mathrm{N}}_{2}N2​) at 50 and 500 mTorr is investigated. The observed EIT lines shift and develop blue-detuned satellite lines, dependent on inert-gas species and pressure. The separations of the satellite from the main EIT lines are approximately pressure-independent, while their strength increases with inert-gas pressure. The satellite lines are attributed to hyperfine collisions of the intermediate 5D3/25{D}_{3/2}5D3/2​ state. Further, analyzing the Stark effect of Rydberg levels, it is found that the inert gases suppress static electric fields in the vapor cells, which we induce by photoillumination of the cell walls with an auxiliary 453-nm laser. In the work, we utilize Rydberg levels with principal quantum numbers n=25n=25n=25 and 505050 and angular momenta \ensuremathℓ=3\ensuremath{\ell}=3\ensuremathℓ=3 up to 6, excited by the EIT lasers and optional radio-frequency dressing fields. The work is of interest in the spectroscopic study of mixed-species warm vapors, in sensing applications of Rydberg atoms in vapor cells, and in noninvasive electric-field diagnostics of low-pressure discharge plasma.
An experimental study on Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in rubidium (Rb) vapor cells containing inert gases at pressures ≤5 Torr is reported. Using an inert-gas-free Rb vapor cell as a reference, we measure frequency shift and line broadening of the EIT spectra in Rb vapor cells with argon, neon, or nitrogen gases at pressures ranging from a few mTorr to 5 Torr. The results qualitatively agree with a pseudo-potential model that includes s-wave scattering between the Rydberg electron and the inert-gas atoms and the effect of polarization of the inert-gas atoms by the Rydberg atoms. Our results are important for establishing Rydberg-EIT as an all-optical and non-intrusive spectroscopic probe for field diagnostics in low-pressure radio frequency discharges.
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Motivated by an interest in measuring electric fields in low-pressure noble-gas discharge plasmas and in dusty plasmas via noninvasive Stark-effect spectroscopy, we investigate Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of 85Rb{}^{85}\mathrm{Rb}85Rb atomic vapor in a glass cell that contains a 5-Torr neon buffer gas. We find that at low probe power the Ne\mathrm{Ne}Ne buffer gas induces a positive frequency shift of the Rydberg-EIT lines of about 70 MHz as well as a broadening of about 120 MHz, with minimal dependence on the principal quantum number of the Rydberg states. The EIT line shift predominantly is a sum of a positive term from sss-wave scattering between the Rydberg electron and the Ne\mathrm{Ne}Ne atoms, and a negative term from the polarization of the Ne\mathrm{Ne}Ne atoms within the Rydberg atom. The polarization shift is lesser in magnitude, resulting in the observed net positive shift. The line broadening is largely due to the Ne\mathrm{Ne}Ne polarization. Our experimental results are in good qualitative agreement with our theoretical model, in which the shift is linear in buffer-gas density. Our results suggest that Rydberg EIT is suitable for noninvasive measurement of electric fields in buffer-gas cells that sustain a plasma discharge, and that it can serve as a direct spectroscopic probe for buffer-gas density at low pressure.
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We prepare and analyze Rydberg states with orbital quantum numbers ℓ≤6 using three-optical-photon electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and radio frequency (rf) dressing, and employ the high- ℓ states in electric-field sensing. Rubidium-85 atoms in a room-temperature vapor cell are first promoted into the 25F5/2 state via Rydberg-EIT with three infrared laser beams. Two rf dressing fields then (near-)resonantly couple the 25F, 25H(ℓ=5) , and 25I(ℓ=6) Rydberg states. The dependence of the rf-dressed Rydberg-state level structure on rf powers, rf and laser frequencies is characterized using EIT. Furthermore, we discuss the principles of dc-electric-field sensing using high- ℓ Rydberg states and experimentally demonstrate the method using test electric fields of ≲50 V/m induced via photo-illumination of the vapor-cell wall. We measure the highly nonlinear dependence of the dc-electric-field strength on the power of the photo-illumination laser. Numerical calculations, which reproduce our experimental observations well, elucidate the underlying physics. Our paper is relevant to high-precision spectroscopy of high- ℓ Rydberg states, Rydberg-atom-based electric-field sensing, and plasma electric-field diagnostics. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
Rydberg-EIT of 85^{85}85Rb vapor in a cell with Ne buffer gas
We investigate Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of 85^{85}85Rb atomic vapor in a glass cell that contains a 5-Torr neon buffer gas. At low probe power, EIT lines exhibit a positive frequency shift of about 70~MHz and a broadening of about 120~MHz, with minimal dependence on the principal quantum number of the Rydberg states. The EIT line shift arises from s-wave scattering between the Rydberg electron and the Ne atoms, which induces a positive shift near 190~MHz, and from the polarization of the Ne atoms within the Rydberg atom, which adds a negative shift near -120~MHz. The line broadening is largely due to the Ne polarization. Our experimental results are in good qualitative agreement with our theoretical model, in which the shift is linear in buffer-gas density. Our results suggest that Rydberg-EIT can serve as a direct spectroscopic probe for buffer-gas density at low pressure, and that it is suitable for non-invasive measurement of electric fields in low-pressure noble-gas discharge plasmas and in dusty plasmas.