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Physical Review A

Extracting irreversible dephasing rates from electric dipole echoes in Rydberg Stark wave packets

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

Published Dec 17, 2008• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

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.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.78.063414

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•Dec 1, 2011•0 citations
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.
The generation of echoes in the electric dipole moment of a Rydberg wavepacket precessing in an external electric field by reversal of the field is described. When the wavepacket experiences reversible dephasing, large echoes are observed pointing to strong refocusing of the wavepacket. The presence of irreversible dephasing leads to a reduction in the size of the echoes. The effect of irreversible dynamics on echoes is investigated using artificially synthesized noise. Methods to determine the decoherence rate are discussed.
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 $\ensuremath{\Delta}n=1$ transitions broaden the energy distribution thereby accelerating the dephasing.
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.
High angular momentum Rydberg wave packets are studied. Application of carefully tailored electric fields to low angular momentum, high- n ( n ∼ 300) Rydberg atoms creates coherent superpositions of Stark states with near extreme values of angular momentum, [cursive l]. Wave packet components orbit the parent nucleus at rates that depend on their energy, leading to periods of localization and delocalization as the components come into and go out of phase with each other. Monitoring survival probability signals in the presence of position dependent probing leads to observation of characteristic oscillations based on the composition of the wave packet. The discrete nature of electron energy levels is observed through the measurement of quantum revivals in the wave packet localization signal. Time-domain spectroscopy of these signals allows determination of both the population and phase of individual superposition components. Precise manipulation of wave packets is achieved through further application of pulsed electric fields. Decoherence effects due to background gas collisions and electrical noise are also detailed. Quantized classical trajectory Monte-Carlo simulations are introduced and agree remarkably well with experimental results.