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Physical Review A

Dephasing of Stark wave packets induced by colored noise

S. Yoshida, Carlos O Reinhold, Joachim Burgdörfer, Wen Kui Zhao, J. J. Mestayer, J. C. Lancaster, F. B. Dunning

Published Jan 17, 2007• 11 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The time evolution of Stark wave packets in Rydberg atoms under the influence of colored noise is analyzed. The Stark wave packets are generated by exposing $K(350p)$ Rydberg atoms to an electric field step. Their time evolution is monitored using a half-cycle probe pulse that is applied after a variable time delay. The noise is generated by randomly modulating the amplitude of the static field. We show that noise results in an enhanced and irreversible dephasing of Stark quantum beats, as monitored by the damping of the beat amplitude. This source of decoherence is most effective when the characteristic frequency of the noise power spectrum matches the orbital frequency of the Rydberg electron. Noise driven resonant $\ensuremath{\Delta}n=1$ transitions broaden the energy distribution thereby accelerating the dephasing.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.75.013414

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The time evolution of Stark wave packets in Rydberg atoms under the influence of colored noise is analyzed. The Stark wave packets are generated by exposing K(350p)K(350p)K(350p) Rydberg atoms to an electric field step. Their time evolution is monitored using a half-cycle probe pulse that is applied after a variable time delay. The noise is generated by randomly modulating the amplitude of the static field. We show that noise results in an enhanced and irreversible dephasing of Stark quantum beats, as monitored by the damping of the beat amplitude. This source of decoherence is most effective when the characteristic frequency of the noise power spectrum matches the orbital frequency of the Rydberg electron. Noise driven resonant \ensuremathΔn=1\ensuremath{\Delta}n=1\ensuremathΔn=1 transitions broaden the energy distribution thereby accelerating the dephasing.
The precession of an electric dipole moment in an external electric field can be reversed by reversing the field direction. This time-reversal operation allows study of coherence in the time evolution of Rydberg Stark wave packets by measuring the resulting echoes. Different sources of reversible dephasing and irreversible dephasing, i.e., decoherence, are discussed in detail. Stochastic interactions with the environment are simulated in a controlled manner by using artificially synthesized noise. The rate of irreversible dephasing is determined from the reduction of the echo amplitude under multiple field reversals.
Quantum revivals in very-high-n (n ~ 300) high-l Rydberg wave packets generated from parent np states are used to examine decoherence induced by the application of 'coloured' noise from a random pulse generator and by collisions. In the absence of external perturbations, the high-l wave packets maintain their coherence for periods ~ 1 µs, i.e. for many hundreds of orbits. This coherence can be destroyed on sub-microsecond timescales by the application of even very small amounts of electrical noise at a rate that depends markedly on the spectral characteristics of the noise. In contrast, measurements over similar timescales with CO2 target gas densities of ~ 1011 cm−3 provided no evidence of collisional dephasing. The mechanisms responsible for decoherence are discussed with the aid of classical and quantum simulations. The results of these simulations are in good accord with the experimental data.
Ultrashort, nearly unipolar electric field pulses are used to produce novel dynamic states in Rydberg atoms. A single 500 fsec field pulse redistributes essentially all of the population from a single stationary Rydberg state to hundreds of different final states. The dynamic evolution of the nonstationary wave packet is monitored using a second, time-delayed pulse. The time-dependent momentum-space probability distribution of the wave packet can be retrieved experimentally using a classical impulse approximation.
Dipole-dipole interactions between helium atoms in Rydberg-Stark states with principal quantum number n=53n=53n=53 and approximately linear Stark energy shifts, resulting from induced electric dipole moments of approximately 7900 D, have been investigated experimentally. The experiments were performed in pulsed supersonic metastable helium beams, with particle number densities of up to $\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{9}\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$. In the presence of amplitude-modulated, radio-frequency electric fields, changes in the spectral intensity distributions associated with the transitions to these states that are attributed to dipole-dipole interactions within the ensembles of excited atoms have been observed. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with calculations of the Rydberg energy level structure carried out using Floquet methods, and excitations shared by up to four atoms. The use of these Rydberg-Stark states as sensors for nonresonant broadband radio-frequency electrical noise is also discussed.
Using techniques of ultrafast coherent control, we propose a method to produce high-purity high-l\mathcal{l}l (angular momentum) states in Rydberg Stark wave packets. Two time-delayed phase-locked laser pulses excite the atom from a low-lying ``launch state'' into a low-l\mathcal{l}l Rydberg wave packet, in the presence of a static electric field. By choosing the time delays between the pulses, and the static electric field, we find that a high-l\mathcal{l}l state with high purity can be created at the target time.
We demonstrate a novel time-domain method to probe electronic coherence in ensembles of cold Rydberg atoms coupled via nearly resonant dipole-dipole interactions. Short laser pulses create coherent superpositions of few-electron eigenstates which evolve under the influence of pulsed electric fields. The pulses steer the dynamics, enhancing the probability for finding atoms in np, rather than initially excited ns states. The enhancement reflects the underlying electronic coherence which persists for >10 μs, 2 orders of magnitude longer than previously measured dephasing times in the same system. Simulations suggest that atom motion is responsible for the eventual decoherence.