Hannover 2013 – scientific programme

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A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 46: Ultra-cold plasmas and Rydberg systems (with Q)

A 46.3: Talk

Friday, March 22, 2013, 11:30–11:45, F 428

Electrical read out for coherent phenomena involving Rydberg atoms in thermal vapor cells — •Daniel Barredo, Harald Kübler, Renate Daschner, Robert Löw, and Tilman Pfau — 5. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany

In Rydberg ensembles, coherent excitation, control and detection of highly excited states are key requisites for proposed applications in quantum information processing. For room temperature applications, Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT) has been, to date, the standard tool for coherent detection of highly excited Rydberg states [1].

Here we report on a very sensitive and scalable method to measure coherent phenomena involving Rydberg atoms in vapor cells [2]. We demonstrate that the detection of the Rydberg ionization current in a vapor cell provides a direct measure of Rydberg state populations (in contrast to coherences probed by EIT) with superior signal-to-noise ratios compared to purely optical techniques. This opens up new and alternative routes to study interacting Rydberg ensembles in thermal vapor cells. We will discuss some possible applications of this new technique and future directions.

[1] A. K. Mohapatra, T. R. Jackson, and C. S. Adams. Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 113003 (2007).

[2] D. Barredo, H. Kübler, R. Daschner, R. Löw, and T. Pfau. arXiv:1209.6550 (2012).