Rabi oscillations between ground and Rydberg states with dipole-dipole atomic interactions

Authors

Todd A. Johnson, College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's UniversityFollow
E. Urban
T. Henage
L. Isenhower
D. D. Yavuz
T. G. Walker
M Saffman

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2008

Disciplines

Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics | Physics

Abstract

We demonstrate Rabi oscillations of small numbers of ⁸⁷Rb atoms between ground and Rydberg states with n≤43. Coherent population oscillations are observed for single atoms, while the presence of two or more atoms decoheres the oscillations. We show that these observations are consistent with van der Waals interactions of Rydberg atoms.

Copyright Statement

© 2008 The American Physical Society

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.113003

Recommended Citation

Johnson TA, Urban E, Henage T, Isenhower L., Yavuz DD, Walker TG, Saffman M. 2008. Rabi oscillations between ground and Rydberg states with dipole-dipole atomic interactions. Physical Review Letters 100: 113003.