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Research in Optical Sciences

Measurement of the van der Waals interaction between two Rydberg atoms

Antoine Browaeys, Sylvain Ravets, Henning Labuhn, Daniel Barredo, Lucas Béguin, Aline Vernier, Radu Chicireanu, Thierry Lahaye

Published Jan 1, 2014• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

This talk will 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 and for different angular momentum. We will also report the observation of the Rydberg blockade between a few atoms in small arrays of dipole traps.
DOI
10.1364/qim.2014.qth3a.1

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Mesure de l’interaction de van der Waals entre deux atomes de Rydberg Les atomes neutres sont des candidats prometteurs pour la réalisation et l’étude d’états intriqués à quelques dizaines de particules. Pour générer de tels états, une approche consiste à utiliser le mécanisme de blocage dipolaire résultant des fortes interactions dipôle-dipôle entre atomes de Rydberg.Suivant cette approche, cette thèse présente la conception et la caractérisation d’un dispositif expérimental permettant de manipuler des atomes de 87Rb individuels piégés dans des pinces op- tiques microscopiques, et à les exciter vers des états de Rydberg. Un environnement électrostatique stable et des électrodes de contrôle permettent une manipulation fine de ces états. Avec deux pinces optiques séparées de quelques microns, nous démontrons le blocage de Rydberg entre deux atomes, et nous observons leur excitation collective.Enfin, en opérant en régime de blocage partiel, nous développons une méthode permettant de mesurer l’interaction de van der Waals ∆E = C6 /R6 entre deux atomes séparés par une distance R contrôlée. Les coefficients C6 obtenus pour différents états de Rydberg sont en bon accord avec des calculs théoriques ab initio, et nous observons l’augmentation spectaculaire de l’interaction en fonction du nombre quantique principal n de l’état de Rydberg.

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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.
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.
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.
Mesure de l’interaction de van der Waals entre deux atomes de Rydberg Les atomes neutres sont des candidats prometteurs pour la réalisation et l’étude d’états intriqués à quelques dizaines de particules. Pour générer de tels états, une approche consiste à utiliser le mécanisme de blocage dipolaire résultant des fortes interactions dipôle-dipôle entre atomes de Rydberg.Suivant cette approche, cette thèse présente la conception et la caractérisation d’un dispositif expérimental permettant de manipuler des atomes de 87Rb individuels piégés dans des pinces op- tiques microscopiques, et à les exciter vers des états de Rydberg. Un environnement électrostatique stable et des électrodes de contrôle permettent une manipulation fine de ces états. Avec deux pinces optiques séparées de quelques microns, nous démontrons le blocage de Rydberg entre deux atomes, et nous observons leur excitation collective.Enfin, en opérant en régime de blocage partiel, nous développons une méthode permettant de mesurer l’interaction de van der Waals ∆E = C6 /R6 entre deux atomes séparés par une distance R contrôlée. Les coefficients C6 obtenus pour différents états de Rydberg sont en bon accord avec des calculs théoriques ab initio, et nous observons l’augmentation spectaculaire de l’interaction en fonction du nombre quantique principal n de l’état de Rydberg.