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Physical Review A

Measuring the van der Waals forces between a Rydberg atom and a metallic surface

A. Anderson, S. Haroche, E. A. Hinds, Wonho Jhe, Dieter Meschede

Published May 1, 1988• 79 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have observed the deflection of Rydberg atoms towards a metallic surface by the van der Waals force. Cs and Na atoms in states of principal quantum number n were sent between two parallel gold-coated mirrors, spaced by a gap w (2.1 \ensuremath{\mu}m\ensuremath{\le}w\ensuremath{\le}8.5 \ensuremath{\mu}m). We measured the value ${n}_{m}$ at which the transmission cuts off and from the variation of ${n}_{m}$ versus w, we obtained a measure of the atom-surface interaction. For $12<n<30$ this interaction is 3--4 orders of magnitude larger than for ground-state atoms, and it obeys the scaling laws of the Lennard-Jones model.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.37.3594

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We report on the direct measurement of the van der Waals interaction between two isolated, single Rydberg atoms separated by a controlled distance of a few micrometers. By working in a regime where the single-atom Rabi frequency of the laser used for excitation to the Rydberg state is comparable to the interaction energy, we observe a \emph{partial} Rydberg blockade, whereby the time-dependent populations of the various two-atom states exhibit coherent oscillations with several frequencies. A quantitative comparison of the data with a simple model based on the optical Bloch equations allows us to extract the van der Waals energy, and to observe its characteristic C6/R6C_6/R^6C6​/R6 dependence. The magnitude of the measured C6C_6C6​ coefficient agrees well with an \emph{ab-initio} theoretical calculation, and we observe its dramatic increase with the principal quantum number nnn of the Rydberg state. Our results not only allow to test an important physical law, but also demonstrate a degree of experimental control which opens new perspectives in quantum information processing and quantum simulation using long-range interactions between the atoms.
We report the direct measurement of the van der Waals interaction between two isolated, single Rydberg atoms separated by a controlled distance of a few micrometers. Working in a regime where the single-atom Rabi frequency for excitation to the Rydberg state is comparable to the interaction, we observe partial Rydberg blockade, whereby the time-dependent populations of the various two-atom states exhibit coherent oscillations with several frequencies. Quantitative comparison of the data with a simple model based on the optical Bloch equations allows us to extract the van der Waals energy, and observe its characteristic C6/R6 dependence. The measured C6 coefficients agree well with ab initio calculations, and we observe their dramatic increase with the principal quantum number n of the Rydberg state.
After a brief introduction to the field of atom optics and to atomic mirrors, we present experimental results obtained in our group during the last two years while studying the reflection of rubidium atoms by an evanescent wave. These involve the first measurement of the van der Waals force between an atom in its ground state and a dielectric wall, as well as the demonstration of a reflection grating for atoms at normal incidence. We also consider the influence of quantum reflection and tunnelling phenomena. Further studies using the atomic mirror as a probe of the van der Waals interaction, and of very small surface roughness are briefly discussed.
We report the direct measurement of the van der Waals interaction between two isolated, single Rydberg atoms separated by a controlled distance of a few micrometers.Working in a regime where the single-atom Rabi frequency for excitation to the Rydberg state is comparable to the interaction, we observe partial Rydberg blockade, whereby the time-dependent populations of the various two-atom states exhibit coherent oscillations with several frequencies.Quantitative comparison of the data with a simple model based on the optical Bloch equations allows us to extract the van der Waals energy, and observe its characteristic C 6 =R 6 dependence.The measured C 6 coefficients agree well with ab initio calculations, and we observe their dramatic increase with the principal quantum number n of the Rydberg state.