Probing electronic coherence in a gas of dipole-dipole coupled Rydberg atoms

We demonstrate a novel time-domain method to probe electronic coherence in ensembles of cold Rydberg atoms coupled via nearly resonant dipole-dipole interactions. Short laser pulses create coherent superpositions of few-electron eigenstates which evolve under the influence of pulsed electric fields. The pulses steer the dynamics, enhancing the probability for finding atoms in np, rather than initially excited ns states. The enhancement reflects the underlying electronic coherence which persists for >10 μs, 2?orders of magnitude longer than previously measured dephasing times in the same system. Simulations suggest that atom motion is responsible for the eventual decoherence.