Autler-Townes (A-T) splitting, known as an AC Stark effect, shows a change of an absorption/emission spectral line of a probe beam when an oscillating field is tuned in resonance with the atomic or molecular transition. The A-T splitting is observed in different three-level atoms and widely investigated in a vapor cell and in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). The A-T splitting plays an important role in the atom-based microwave electric-field measurements where a cascade three-level system involving Rydberg state is adopted. In this work, an A-T splitting is observed in an ultracold cesium Rydberg gas, which is cooled down to about 100 pK and center density is about 1010 cm-3 in a conventional MOT by using the laser cooling technology. We present the A-T spectrum in a ladder three-level atomic system involving a 34D5/2 Rydberg state. The cesium ground state (6S1/2), excited state (6P3/2) and Rydberg state (34D5/2) constitute a Rydberg three-level system. A coupling laser, locked to the Rydberg transition by using a Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency signal that is obtained from a cesium room-temperature vapor cell, couples 6P3/2 (F'=5) 34D5/2 Rydberg transition. A weak probe laser, stabilized to a ground-state transition by using a polarization spectroscopy, is swept, covering the transition 6S1/2 (F=4) 6P3/2 (F'=5) with a double-passed acousto-optic modulator. The probe and coupling lasers are counter-propagated through the MOT center. The power of probe light is 200 pW, corresponding Rabi frequency p=21.05 MHz. During the experiment, 50 s after turning off the trapping laser, both the coupling and probe beams are switched on and last 100 s. The A-T spectrum as a function of the probe detuning is detected with a single-photon counter module detector. We use Gaussian multiple peak fitting to obtain the positions of the A-T peaks and the A-T splitting. The measured A-T splitting is proportional to the Rabi frequency of the coupling light. We numerically solve the density matrix equations to obtain the A-T spectrum, and the calculations reproduce A-T spectra well. The measured A-T splitting shows good agreement with the theoretical calculation for Rabi frequency of the coupling light c29 MHz. The A-T splitting is less than the calculation for the case of c29 MHz, the deviation is mainly attributed to the increased dephasing rate induced by the strong interaction between Rydberg atoms, whose number increases with the coupling laser Rabi frequency. In this work, the adopted method for the cascade three-level system involving Rydberg state is also suitable for -and V-type cases.
Autler-Townes (A-T) splitting, known as an AC Stark effect, shows a change of an absorption/emission spectral line of a probe beam when an oscillating field is tuned in resonance with the atomic or molecular transition. The A-T splitting is observed in different three-level atoms and widely investigated in a vapor cell and in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). The A-T splitting plays an important role in the atom-based microwave electric-field measurements where a cascade three-level system involving Rydberg state is adopted. In this work, an A-T splitting is observed in an ultracold cesium Rydberg gas, which is cooled down to about 100 pK and center density is about 1010 cm-3 in a conventional MOT by using the laser cooling technology. We present the A-T spectrum in a ladder three-level atomic system involving a 34D5/2 Rydberg state. The cesium ground state (6S1/2), excited state (6P3/2) and Rydberg state (34D5/2) constitute a Rydberg three-level system. A coupling laser, locked to the Rydberg transition by using a Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency signal that is obtained from a cesium room-temperature vapor cell, couples 6P3/2 (F'=5) 34D5/2 Rydberg transition. A weak probe laser, stabilized to a ground-state transition by using a polarization spectroscopy, is swept, covering the transition 6S1/2 (F=4) 6P3/2 (F'=5) with a double-passed acousto-optic modulator. The probe and coupling lasers are counter-propagated through the MOT center. The power of probe light is 200 pW, corresponding Rabi frequency p=21.05 MHz. During the experiment, 50 s after turning off the trapping laser, both the coupling and probe beams are switched on and last 100 s. The A-T spectrum as a function of the probe detuning is detected with a single-photon counter module detector. We use Gaussian multiple peak fitting to obtain the positions of the A-T peaks and the A-T splitting. The measured A-T splitting is proportional to the Rabi frequency of the coupling light. We numerically solve the density matrix equations to obtain the A-T spectrum, and the calculations reproduce A-T spectra well. The measured A-T splitting shows good agreement with the theoretical calculation for Rabi frequency of the coupling light c29 MHz. The A-T splitting is less than the calculation for the case of c29 MHz, the deviation is mainly attributed to the increased dephasing rate induced by the strong interaction between Rydberg atoms, whose number increases with the coupling laser Rabi frequency. In this work, the adopted method for the cascade three-level system involving Rydberg state is also suitable for -and V-type cases.
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.
We demonstrate the three-photon Autler-Townes (AT) spectroscopy in a cold cesium Rydberg four-level atom by detecting the field ionized Rydberg population. The ground state |6S1/2〉, two intermediate states |6P3/2〉 and |7S1/2〉 and Rydberg state |60P3/2〉 form a cascade four-level atomic system. The three-photon AT spectra and AT splittings are characterized by the Rabi frequency Ω852 and Ω1470 and detuning δ852 of the coupling lasers. Due to the interaction of two coupling lasers with the atoms, the AT spectrum has three peaks denoted with the letters A, B and C. Positions of the peaks and relative AT splittings, γAB and γBC, strongly depend on two coupling lasers. The dependence of the AT splitting, γAB and γBC, on the coupling laser detuning, δ852, and Rabi frequency, Ω852 and Ω1470 are investigated. It is found that the AT splitting γAB mainly comes from the first photon coupling, whereas the γBC mainly comes from the second photon coupling with the atom. The three-photon AT spectra and relevant AT splittings are simulated with the four-level density matrix equation and show good agreement with the theoretical simulations considering the spectral line broadening. Our work is of great significance both for further understanding the interaction between the laser and the atom, and for the application of the Rydberg atom based field measurement.
Autler-Townes (AT) splitting is observed in ultracold cesium Rydberg gases. Frequency and power of the laser field coupling 6S1/2 and 6P3/2 levels are tuned to influence the population redistribution of 6P3/2 and nS levels excited by another light. The profile of AT spectroscopy is measured experimentally and compared with the theoretical simulation considering the estimated large dephasing rates caused by interaction between Rydberg atoms, which demonstrates that splitting and profile of AT spectra are strongly dependent on the interaction between Rydberg atoms. Rabi frequency of the coupling laser and transition dipole moment of 6S${}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}$ 6P3/2 are deduced via fitting the measured space variation of two splitting peaks, which is consistent with theoretical calculations.
Abstract We utilize an electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of a three-level cascade system involving Rydberg state in a room-temperature cell, formed with a cesium 6S1/2–6P3/2–66S1/2 scheme, to investigate the Autler–Townes (AT) splitting resulting from a 15.21-GHz radio-frequency (RF) field that couples the | 66 S 1 / 2 〉 → | 65 P 1 / 2 〉 Rydberg transition. The radio-frequency electric field induced AT splitting, γ AT, is defined as the peak-to-peak distance of an EIT-AT spectrum. The dependence of AT splitting γ AT on the probe and coupling Rabi frequency, Ωp and Ωc, is investigated. It is found that the EIT-AT splitting strongly depends on the EIT linewidth that is related to the probe and coupling Rabi frequency in a weak RF-field regime. Using a narrow linewidth EIT spectrum would decrease the uncertainty of the RF field measurements. This work provides new experimental evidence for the theoretical framework in [J. Appl. Phys. 121, 233106 (2017)].
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.
Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and Autler–Townes splitting (ATS) are two similar yet distinct phenomena that modify the transmission of a weak probe field through an absorption medium in the presence of a coupling field, featured in a variety of three-level atomic systems. In many applications it is important to distinguish EIT from ATS splitting. We present EIT and ATS spectra in a three-level cascade system, involving cold cesium atoms in the Rydberg state. The EIT linewidth, γ EIT , defined as the full width at half maximum of the transparency window, and the ATS splitting, γ ATS , defined as the peak-to-peak distance between AT absorption peaks, are used to delineate the EIT and ATS regimes and to characterize the transition between the regimes. In the cold-atom medium, in the weak-coupler (EIT) regime γ EIT ≈ A + B ( + , where Ω c and Ω p are the coupler and probe Rabi frequencies, Γ eg is the spontaneous decay rate of the intermediate 6P 3/2 level, and parameters A and B that depend on the laser linewidth. We explore the transition into the strong-coupler (ATS) regime, which is characterized by the relation γ ATS ≈ Ω c . The experiments are in agreement with numerical solutions of the Master equation. Our analysis accounts for non-ideal conditions that exist in typical realizations of Rydberg-EIT, including laser-frequency jitter, Doppler mismatch of the utilized two-color Rydberg EIT system, and strong probe fields. The obtained criteria to distinguish cold-atom EIT from ATS are readily accessible and applicable in practical implementations.