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Optics Express

Light propagation in a three-dimensional Rydberg gas with a nonlocal optical response

Yan‐Li Zhou

Published Apr 26, 2021• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the linear susceptibility and propagation of light in a three-dimensional (3-D) Rydberg gas under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency. Rydberg atoms with two relevant S states are coupled via exchange interactions. When the gas is initially prepared in an entangled spin-wave state, this coupling induces a strong, nonlocal susceptibility whereby the photon field at one point of the medium acts as a source at a distant position. The nonlocal propagation occurs not only in the propagation direction but also in the paraxial direction. We discuss the absorption features and numerically simulate the 3-D propagation of probe laser light. Combined with the long-range exchange interaction, we show that the 3-D Rydberg gas is an ideal medium for studying nonlocal wave phenomena, in which the strength, range, and sign of the nonlocal interaction kernel can be widely tuned.

DOI
10.1364/oe.425208

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We theoretically investigate the linear susceptibility and propagation of light in a three-dimensional (3-D) Rydberg gas under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency. Rydberg atoms with two relevant S states are coupled via exchange interactions. When the gas is initially prepared in an entangled spin-wave state, this coupling induces a strong, nonlocal susceptibility whereby the photon field at one point of the medium acts as a source at a distant position. The nonlocal propagation occurs not only in the propagation direction but also in the paraxial direction. We discuss the absorption features and numerically simulate the 3-D propagation of probe laser light. Combined with the long-range exchange interaction, we show that the 3-D Rydberg gas is an ideal medium for studying nonlocal wave phenomena, in which the strength, range, and sign of the nonlocal interaction kernel can be widely tuned.
We theoretically investigate light propagation and electromagnetically induced transparency in a quasi-one-dimensional gas in which atoms interact strongly via exchange interactions. We focus on the case in which the gas is initially prepared in a many-body state that contains a single excitation and conduct a detailed study of the absorptive and dispersive properties of such a medium. This scenario is achieved in interacting gases of Rydberg atoms with two relevant S states that are coupled through exchange. Of particular interest is the case in which the medium is prepared in an entangled spin-wave state. This, in conjunction with the exchange interaction, gives rise to a nonlocal susceptibility that--in comparison to conventional Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency--qualitatively alters the absorption and propagation of weak probe light, leading to nonlocal propagation and enhanced absorption.
A three-level atomic medium can be made transparent to a resonant probe field in the presence of a strong control field acting on an adjacent atomic transition to a long-lived state, which can be represented by a highly excited Rydberg state. The long-range interactions between the Rydberg state atoms then translate into strong, non-local, dispersive or absorptive interactions between the probe photons, which can be used to achieve deterministic quantum logic gates and single photon sources. Here we show that long-range dipole–dipole exchange interaction with one or more spins—two-level systems represented by atoms in suitable Rydberg states—can play the role of control field for the optically dense medium of atoms. This induces transparency of the medium for a number of probe photons n p not exceeding the number of spins n s , while all the excess photons are resonantly absorbed upon propagation. In the most practical case of a single spin atom prepared in the Rydberg state, the medium is thus transparent only to a single input probe photon. For larger number of spins n s , all n p ≤ n s photon components of the probe field would experience transparency but with an n p -dependent group velocity.
A three-level atomic medium can be made transparent to a resonant probe field in the presence of a strong control field acting on an adjacent atomic transition. We show that long-range dipole-dipole exchange interaction with one or more spins -- two-level systems represented by atoms in suitable Rydberg states -- can play the role of control field for the optically-dense medium of atoms. This induces transparency of the medium for a number of probe photons npn_pnp​ not exceeding the number of spins nsn_sns​, while all the excess photons are resonantly absorbed upon propagation. In the case of a single spin atom prepared in the Rydberg state, the medium is thus transparent only to a single input probe photon. For larger number of spins nsn_sns​, all np≤nsn_p \leq n_snp​≤ns​ photon components of the probe field experience transparency but with an npn_pnp​-dependent group velocity.
We predict a resonant enhancement of the nonlinear optical response of an interacting Rydberg gas under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency. The enhancement originates from a two-photon process which resonantly couples electronic states of a pair of atoms dressed by a strong control field. We calculate the optical response for the three-level system by explicitly including the dynamics of the intermediate state. We find an analytical expression for the third-order susceptibility for a weak classical probe field. The nonlinear absorption displays the strongest resonant behavior on two-photon resonance where the detuning of the probe field equals the Rabi frequency of the control field. The nonlinear dispersion of the medium exhibits various spatial shapes depending on the interaction strength. Based on the developed model, we propose a realistic experimental scenario to observe the resonance by performing transmission measurements.
We discuss electromagnetically induced transparency in a cold ensemble of atoms optically excited to the Rydberg states. Strong dipole-dipole or van der Waals interactions between the atomic Rydberg states translate into large nonlocal nonlinearities for a propagating probe field. In the case of weak quantum fields, this can be used to attain a conditional phase shift of π between pairs of single photons realizing a deterministic photonic phase gate. For stronger fields, long-range interactions between the atoms constrain the medium to behave as a collection of superatoms, each comprising a blockade volume that can accommodate at most one Rydberg excitation. The propagation of a probe field is affected by its two-photon correlations within the blockade distance, which are strongly damped due to low saturation threshold of the superatoms. Our calculations reproduce and interpret the results of recent experiments.
Abstract Rydberg atoms, characterized by their giant polarizability and strong long-range interactions, provide an ideal platform for exploring optical nonlinearities. By coupling light to ensembles of Rydberg atoms, one can map the strong and nonlocal interactions between Rydberg atoms and light fields. A particularly important scheme for realizing such nonlinearity is electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). This article presents a review of the research progress in nonlinear optics based on Rydberg-EIT systems, particularly nonlinear light propagation in Rydberg atomic gases. We first introduce the fundamental properties of Rydberg atoms and the physical mechanism of EIT-enhanced nonlinearity, emphasizing how the Rydberg blockade effect endows the system with a giant nonlocal Kerr nonlinearity. Subsequently, we discuss some typical nonlinear optical phenomena in such a system with focusing and defocusing nonlocal nonlinearities. In the focusing regime, we discuss spatial solitons, vortex solitons, soliton cloning, soliton molecules, optical bullets, and self-induced transparency solitons. Other topics are also discussed. In the defocusing regime, we analyze pattern formation and shock wave dynamics. Finally, we provide an outlook on the future development of this field toward quantum control, hybrid-system integration, and novel functional devices.