Hannover 2013 – scientific programme
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A: Fachverband Atomphysik
A 46: Ultra-cold plasmas and Rydberg systems (with Q)
A 46.4: Talk
Friday, March 22, 2013, 11:45–12:00, F 428
Observation of spatially ordered structures in a two-dimensional Rydberg gas — •Peter Schauß1, Marc Cheneau1, Manuel Endres1, Takeshi Fukuhara1, Sebastian Hild1, Ahmed Omran1, Thomas Pohl2, Christian Gross1, Stefan Kuhr1,3, and Immanuel Bloch1,4 — 1Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, 85748 Garching — 2Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme, 01187 Dresden — 3University of Strathclyde, SUPA, Glasgow G4 0NG, UK — 4Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80799 München
The ability to control and tune interactions in ultra-cold atomic gases has paved the way for the realization of new phases of matter with short-range interactions. Rydberg atoms are highly suited to extend the scope to long-range interacting systems due to the much stronger van der Waals forces between them.
Here we report on the experimental observation of strong correlations between laser-excited Rydberg atoms using a high-resolution optical detection scheme.
The measurements reveal the emergence of spatially ordered excitation patterns with random orientation, but well-defined geometry in the high-density components of the prepared many-body state. In combination with single-site addressing the developed Rydberg atom imaging techniques will enable further well-controlled experiments with Rydberg gases on the single-atom level.
[1] P. Schauß et al., Nature 491, 87 (2012)