Observation of Energy Level Shifts of Rydberg Atoms Due to Thermal Fields (With 2 Figures)

Leo W. Hollberg, J. L. Hall

Leo W. Hollberg, J. L. Hall

The authors report the first observation of level shifts of Rydberg states due to their coupling with thermal radiation fields. The Rydberg level positions were measured relative to the atomic ground state using two photon optical Ramsey fringe techniques in an atomic beam apparatus. The level shifts were isolated by chopping the blackbody radiation source. The runs analyzed are consistent with the expected T sup 2 dependence and much data remains to be analyzed.

F. Gounand, J. Berlande

F. B. Dunning, R. F. Stebbings

Tomasz Prokop, Bartosz Kasza, Wojciech Wasilewski +1 more

We demonstrate a method to measure energy shifts of the top level in a four-level ladder setup induced by atom interactions in thermal vapors. It utilizes the observation of two transmission minima corresponding to a split electromagnetically induced absorption (EIA) effect. We apply this method to measure mean Rydberg atom interactions in a hot vapor. We believe this approach could provide a valuable tool for accurately modeling mean-field Rydberg atom interactions, as well as sensing the occurrence of strong interactions.

J. Cooper, Charles W. Clark