Berlin 2014 – scientific programme
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A: Fachverband Atomphysik
A 13: Ultracold plasmas and Rydberg systems II (with Q)
A 13.3: Talk
Monday, March 17, 2014, 14:30–14:45, DO24 1.101
Creation, excitation and ionization of a superatom — •Tobias Weber, Thomas Niederprüm, Torsten Manthey, Oliver Thomas, Vera Guarrera, and Giovanni Barontini — Research Center OPTIMAS, Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
We have prepared and studied a single, isolated superatom consisting of a mesoscopic atomic sample with several hundred atoms, coupled to collective Rydberg states. We probe the created excitation blockade by ionizing the superatom. This results in an anti-bunched ion emission which has many similarities to the resonance fluorescence of a single atom. We determine an effective blockade radius for the 51P-state and demonstrate the collective character of the excitation. The rich internal level structure of the superatom can be further exploited to create pairs of excitations within the superatom. The resulting ion bunching signal shows record values up to g(2)(0)=30. Varying coupling strength and detuning, we observe a significant change in the excitation dynamics, indicating an excitation regime transition. Our results open new possibilities to quantum optical experiments with Rydberg blockaded samples.