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Physical Review A

Two-photon microwave transitions and strong-field effects in a room-temperature Rydberg-atom gas

David Alexander Anderson, Andrew Schwarzkopf, Stephanie Miller, Nithiwadee Thaicharoen, Georg A. Raithel, Joshua A. Gordon, Christopher L. Holloway

Published Oct 29, 2014• 72 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We investigate two-photon Autler-Townes splitting and strong-field effects of $^{85}\mathrm{Rb}$ Rydberg atoms in a room-temperature vapor cell. To observe the level structure we employ electromagnetically induced transparency. We first study the two-photon $62{S}_{1/2}\text{\ensuremath{-}}63{S}_{1/2}$ microwave transition using an electric-field reference measurement obtained with the one-photon $62{S}_{1/2}\text{\ensuremath{-}}62{P}_{3/2}$ transition. We then study the $61{D}_{5/2}\text{\ensuremath{-}}62{D}_{5/2}$ transition where the microwave electric-field range is extended up to $\ensuremath{\sim}40\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{V}/\mathrm{m}$. A Floquet analysis is used to model field-induced level shifts and state-mixing effects present in the strongly driven quantum systems under consideration. Calculations are found to be in good agreement with experimental observations.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.90.043419

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We present a two-photon microwave spectra of cesium Rydberg atoms in the room-temperature vapor cell. The three-level atom including a ground state 6S1/2 (F = 4), an excited state 6P3/2 (F′ = 5) and Rydberg state consists of Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (Rydberg-EIT), that is employed to detect the microwave two-photon spectra. The microwave field with frequency ν DD = 11.42865 GHz couples the transition of Rydberg energy level |68D5/2〉 → |69D5/2〉, measured two-photon spectra display a rich of information including the microwave ac Stark shifts and two-photon Autler-Townes (AT) splitting. In the strong microwave field, the two-photon spectroscopy shows the state mixture between |68D5/2〉 and |68D3/2〉 Stark lines. The microwave two-photon spectra of the |69S1/2〉 → |70S1/2〉 transition coupled with frequency ν SS = 11.73503 GHz are also presented. The Floquet theory is employed to simulate the two-photon microwave spectra, showing the good agreement with the measurements. The work suggests the new method that may be used to investigate the multi-photon field-atom interaction and as an atom-based technique for precision field measurements.
An electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of a cascade-three-level atom involving Rydberg level in a room-temperature cell, formed with a cesium 6S 1 / 2-6P 3 / 2-66 S 1 / 2 scheme, is employed to detect the Autler-Townes (AT) splitting resulted with a 15.21-GHz microwave field coupling the 66 S 1 / 2 → 65 P 1 / 2 transition. Microwave field induced AT splitting, f A T, is characterized by the distance of peak-to-peak of an EIT-AT spectrum. The f A T dependence on the microwave Rabi frequency, Ω M W , demonstrates two regions, the strong-coupling linear region, f A T ≈ Ω M W and the weak-coupling nonlinear region, f A T ≲ Ω M W. The f A T dependencies on the probe and coupling Rabi frequency are also investigated. Using small probe- and coupling-laser, the Rabi frequency is found to enlarge the linear regime and decrease the uncertainty of the microwave field measurements. The measurements agree with the calculations based on a four-level atomic model.
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Magnetic-field-induced splitting of Rydberg Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT) and Autler-Townes (AT) spectra in 87^{87}87Rb vapor cell
We theoretically and experimentally investigate the Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and Autler-Townes (AT) splitting of 87^{87}87Rb vapor under the combined influence of a magnetic field and a microwave field. In the presence of static magnetic field, the effect of the microwave field leads to the dressing and splitting of each mFm_FmF​ state, resulting in multiple spectral peaks in the EIT-AT spectrum. A simplified analytical formula was developed to explain the EIT-AT spectrum in a static magnetic field, and the calculations are in excellent agreement with experimental results.We further studied the enhancement of the Rydberg atom microwave electric field sensor performance by making use of the splitting interval between the two maximum absolute mFm_FmF​ states under static magnetic field. The traceable measurement limit of weak electric field by EIT-AT splitting method was extended by an order of magnitude, which is promising for precise microwave electric field measurement.
Multiphoton electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of atomic vapors involves several intermediate atomic levels. The substructure of these levels and their collisional interactions can drastically alter experimental EIT signals. Here we report on hyperfine structure and collision effects in three-photon Rydberg EIT on the cascade $5{S}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}5{P}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5{D}_{3/2}\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}25{F}_{5/2}$ in a room-temperature 85Rb^{85}\mathrm{Rb}85Rb vapor cell. In our measurements of EIT spectra, we identify two types of EIT signatures that correspond with distinct excitation pathways and atomic velocity classes in the atomic vapor. The 5D3/25{D}_{3/2}5D3/2​ hyperfine structure and Autler-Townes splittings lead to complex patterns in the EIT spectra, which we analyze with the aid of 10-level EIT simulations. Adding 50 mTorr of Ar gas alters the EIT spectra and induces an additional, third EIT mode. Based on our simulation results, we attribute these changes to hyperfine collisions in the Rb 5D3/25{D}_{3/2}5D3/2​ level. Our study may become useful in quantum technologies involving Rydberg EIT and hyperfine collisions in vapor cells, including noninvasive spatiotemporally resolved electric-field sensing of electric fields in low-pressure plasmas.
We present an electromagnetically induced transparency and Aulter-Townes (EIT-AT) spectrum of a Rydberg three-level atom that is dressed with a microwave field in a room-temperature cesium cell. The EIT is a quantum coherent effect produced by the interaction of atoms with electromagnetic waves, which leads to the decrease of the absorption for a weak resonant probe laser. AT splitting refers to the phenomenon, that the absorption line splits when an electromagnetic field that is in resonance or near resonance acts on the transition of atoms. Rydberg atoms are extremely sensitive to an external electric field due to their large polarizabilities and microwave transition dipole moments, which can be used to measure the external field. In this work, a Rydberg three-level EIT is used to detect Rydberg atom and AT splitting induced by the microwave field. Cesium levels 6S1/2, 6P3/2 and 50S1/2 constitute a Rydberg three-level system, in which a weak probe laser locking to the transition from 6S1/2 to 6P3/2 couples ground-state transition and the strong coupling laser resonates on the Rydberg transition from 6P2/3 to 50S1/2. The two Rydberg levels 50S1/2 and 50P1/2 are coupled with the microwave field at a frequency of 30.852 GHz, leading to the AT splitting of EIT line and forming an EIT-AT spectrum, which is used to measure the electric field amplitude of microwave. In order to further study the EIT-AT splitting characteristics of the Rydberg levels, we carry out a series of measurements by changing the microwave field. The experimental results show a broadened EIT-AT signal for the weak field range and the four-peak spectrum for the strong field, which is attributed to the inhomogeneity of the microwave field. The microwave in cesium cell, emitted by a function generator, shows inhomogeneous behavior such that the atoms interacting with the laser field experience the different fields, leading to the line broadened and multi-peak EIT-AT spectra. For the microwave transition of nS1/2-nP1/2 in this paper, a pair of EIT-AT lines should be obtained for an electric field value. The broadening of the EIT-AT spectrum and the multi-peak structure here are due to the inhomogeneity of the microwave field measurement. We propose a method to increase the spatial resolution by reducing the length of cesium cell. The result in this work provides a method of measuring the field amplitude and monitoring the distribution of microwave electric field, meanwhile the spatial resolution of the measurements can be improved by reducing the size of the cell.