2024/03/30 by Du, Jinjin, Vogt, Thibault, Zheng, Ningxuan +1
#Atomic Physics (physics.atom-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2404.00274
Rydberg atoms are currently a very fast advancing quantum platform. For many interesting and demanding applications, including quantum computation, fast detection of a Rydberg excitation or a Rydberg qubit for information readout would be one of the most desirable developments. We demonstrate single-shot and in situ absorption imaging of individual Rydberg excitations. This level of resolution is achieved using an electromagnetically induced transparency scheme involving a Rydberg energy level that is highly sensitive to the presence of Rydberg atoms due to Förster-resonance-enhanced dipole couplings. Spectroscopic measurements illustrate the existence of the Förster resonance and underscore the state-selectivity of the technique. With an imaging exposure time as short as 3 μs, we successfully resolve linear chains of Rydberg excitations in a one-dimensional configuration. The extracted second-order correlation shows strong anti-bunching due to excitation blockade, and a Fourier analysis reveals the long-range order in the chains of Rydberg excitations. This imaging technique, with minimal destruction, will be of great interest for leveraging ensemble-encoded qubits in quantum computation and quantum simulation applications.