Interaction Enhanced Imaging of Rydberg P states Preparation and detection of Rydberg atoms for engineering long-range interactions

• Published in: The European physical journal. ST, Special topics Vol. 225; no. 15-16; pp. 2863 - 2889
• Main Authors: Gavryusev, Vladislav, Ferreira-Cao, Miguel, Kekić, Armin, Zürn, Gerhard, Signoles, Adrien
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.12.2016
• Subjects: Atomic; Classical and Continuum Physics; Condensed Matter Physics; Cooperativity and Control in Highly Excited Rydberg Ensembles – Achievements of the European Marie Curie ITN COHERENCE; Materials Science; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Molecular; Optical and Plasma Physics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Review
• ISSN: 1951-6355; 1951-6401
• DOI: 10.1140/epjst/e2015-50339-8

The Interaction Enhanced Imaging technique allows to detect the spatial distribution of strongly interacting impurities embedded within a gas of background atoms used as a contrast medium [1]. Here we present a detailed study of this technique, applied to detect Rydberg P states. We experimentally realize fast and efficient three-photon excitation of P states, optimized according to the results of a theoretical effective two-level model. Few Rydberg P -state atoms, prepared in a small cloud with dimensions comparable to the blockade radius, are detected with a good sensitivity by averaging over 50 shots. The main aspects of the technique are described with a hard-sphere model, finding good agreement with experimental data. This work paves the way to a non-destructive optical detection of single Rydberg atoms with high spatial and temporal resolution.