Rabi oscillations and excitation trapping in the coherent excitation of a mesoscopic frozen Rydberg gas

We demonstrate the coherent excitation of a mesoscopic ensemble of about 100 ultracold atoms to Rydberg states by driving Rabi oscillations from the atomic ground state. We employ a dedicated beam shaping and optical pumping scheme to compensate for the small transition matrix element. We study the excitation in a weakly interacting regime and in the regime of strong interactions. When increasing the interaction strength by pair state resonances, we observe an increased excitation rate through coupling to high angular momentum states. This effect is in contrast to the proposed and previously observed interaction-induced suppression of excitation, the so-called dipole blockade.     

Controlled suppression of ionization of Rydberg atoms in a microwave field

A computational procedure for controlling the stochastic ionization of one-dimensional single electron Rydberg atoms in the correspondence principle regime is developed. Using our procedure it is possible to suppress excitation and ionization of the one-dimensional Rydberg atom even in strong microwave fields for which ionization would otherwise be instantaneous.     

Resonant scattering of three-level Rydberg atoms in a microwave field

We examine the theory of potential scattering of Rydberg atoms in a microwave field. The model of a three-level atom is employed to calculate the radiative force emerging in the resonant coherent interaction with the microwave field for the case of a two-photon resonance and high intensities, using the method of quasienergies of the system consisting of the atom and the field. We determine the probabilities of Landau-Zener transitions in the spatial regions where under two-photon resonance conditions the quasienergies of the atoms approach one another by a small quantity. We also study the dynamics of the variation of the spatial profile of a beam of Rydberg atoms caused by resonant scattering. Finally, we give the results of the first experimental observation of the variation of the transverse beam profile when Rydberg atoms pass through a nonuniform microwave field formed in a rectangular waveguide and in resonance with the two-photon 36P–37P transition. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 111, 796–815 (March 1997)     

Suppression of excitation and spectral broadening induced by interactions in a cold gas of Rydberg atoms

We report on the observation of ultralong range interactions in a gas of cold rubidium Rydberg atoms. The van der Waals interaction between a pair of Rydberg atoms separated as far as 100,000 Bohr radii features two important effects: spectral broadening of the resonance lines and suppression of excitation with increasing density. The density dependence of these effects is investigated in detail for the S- and P-Rydberg states with principal quantum numbers n approximately 60 and n approximately 80 excited by narrow-band continuous-wave laser light. The density-dependent suppression of excitation can be interpreted as the onset of an interaction-induced local blockade.     

Dipole-dipole excitation and ionization in an ultracold gas of Rydberg atoms

In cold dense Rydberg atom samples, the dipole-dipole interaction strength is effectively resonant at the typical interatomic spacing in the sample, and the interaction has a 1/R3 dependence on interatomic spacing R. The dipole-dipole attraction leads to ionizing collisions of initially stationary atoms, which produces hot atoms and ions and initiates the evolution of initially cold samples of neutral Rydberg atoms into plasmas. More generally, the strong dipole-dipole forces lead to motion, which must be considered in proposed applications.     

Nanolithography with metastable helium atoms in a high-power standing-wave light field

We have created periodic nanoscale structures in a gold substrate with a lithography process using metastable triplet helium atoms that damage a hydrophobic resist layer on top of the substrate. A beam of metastable helium atoms is transversely collimated and guided through an intense standing-wave light field. Compared to commonly used low-power optical masks, a high-power light field (saturation parameter of 10⁷) increases the confinement of the atoms in the standing wave considerably, and makes the alignment of the experimental setup less critical. Due to the high internal energy of the metastable helium atoms (20 eV), a dose of only one atom per resist molecule is required. With an exposure time of only eight minutes, parallel lines with a separation of 542 nm and a width of 100 nm (one-eleventh of the wavelength used for the optical mask) are created.PACS 32.80.Lg; 39.25.+k; 81.16.Nd     

Observation of coherent oscillations in a single electron spin

Rabi nutations and Hahn echo modulation of a single electron spin in a single defect center have been observed. The coherent evolution of the spin quantum state is followed via optical detection of the spin state. Coherence times up to several microseconds at room temperature have been measured. Optical excitation of the spin states leads to decoherence. Quantum beats between electron spin transitions in a single spin Hahn echo experiment are observed. A closer analysis reveals that beats also result from the hyperfine coupling of the electron spin to a single 14N nuclear spin. The results are analyzed in terms of a density matrix approach of an electron spin interacting with two oscillating fields.     

Population coherent control of a Rydberg sodium atom in a microwave field

The B-spline expansion technique and the time-dependent multilevel approach (TDMA) are used to study the interaction between a microwave field and sodium atoms. The Rydberg sodium atom energy levels of p states in zero field are calculated, and the results are in good agreement with the other theoretical ones. The time evolutions during the population transfers of the five states from n = 75 to n = 79 in different microwave fields are obtained. The results show that the coherent control of the population transfer from the lower states to the higher ones can be accomplished by optimizing the microwave pulse parameters.     

Observation of a resonant four-body interaction in cold cesium Rydberg atoms

Cold Rydberg atoms subject to long-range dipole-dipole interactions represent a particularly interesting system for exploring few-body interactions and probing the transition from 2-body physics to the many-body regime. In this work we report the direct observation of a resonant 4-body Rydberg interaction. We exploit the occurrence of an accidental quasicoincidence of a 2-body and a 4-body resonant Stark-tuned F?rster process in cesium to observe a resonant energy transfer requiring the simultaneous interaction of at least four neighboring atoms. These results are relevant for the implementation of quantum gates with Rydberg atoms and for further studies of many-body physics.     

Role of metastable atoms and molecules of helium in excitation transfer to hydrogen atoms

The afterglow of a discharge in helium with a small admixture of hydrogen is studied spectroscopically (p=40 Torr, [e]≤10¹¹ cm^?3). The time-resolved measurements of intensities of the first four lines of the Balmer series are performed. The concentrations of metastable helium atoms and molecules are evaluated from the relative intensity of the absorption lines. The ratios of excitation transfer rates from atoms He(2 ³ S ₁) k ₁(n) and molecules of helium He₂(a 2sσ ³Σ _u ⁺ ) k ₂(n) to atomic hydrogen H*(n) are measured to be k ₁(n=3)/k ₂(n=3)=0.04±0.02 and k ₁(n=4)/k ₂(n=4)=0.01±0.02. The ratios of excitation rate constants k ₂(n) corresponding to different states H(n) are measured to be k ₁(n=4)/k ₂(n=3)=0.023±0.01; k ₁(n=5)/k ₂(n=3)≤0.013; and k ₁(n=6)/k ₂(n=3)≤0.007.     

Analysis of the fractal intrinsic quality in the ionization of Rydberg helium and lithium atoms

We study the fractal rhythm in the ionization of Rydberg helium and lithium atoms in an electric field by using the semiclassical method. The fractal structures present a nested relationship layer by layer in the initial launch angles of the ionized electrons versus the escape time, which is defined as the rhythm attractor, and exhibit similar rhythm endings. The gradually enhanced chaotic regions of the escape time plots tend to broaden as the scaled energy increases. In addition,the fractal rhythm changes synchronously with the oscillations of the kinetic energy spectrum. We note that the intrinsic quality of the fractal rhythm is closely related to the kinetic energy distribution, that is, the inherent dynamic properties of the Hamiltonian equations have an impact on the fractal regularities. In addition, different ionizing closed trajectories exhibit iterate properties and the inherent beauty of symmetry. Our results and analysis can not only reveal new laws in the ionization of Rydberg atoms, but also promote the establishment of the dynamic mechanism of fractals.