2007/11/30 by Markus Reetz-Lamour, M. Reetz‐Lamour, Thomas Amthor +2 · 5 citations
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Angular momentum #Atomic physics #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Condensed matter physics #Dipole #Excitation #Ground state #Ionization #Laser #Mesoscopic physics #Physics #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum mechanics #Quantum optics and atomic interactions #Rabi cycle #Rabi frequency #Rydberg atom #Rydberg formula #Trapping #physics.atom-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.100.253001
4 pages, 5 figures
arxiv created 2008/01/30 · openalex publication_date 2008/06/26 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
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.