Intrinsic optical bistability in a strongly driven Rydberg ensemble

Melo, Natália Rodrigues de; Wade, Christopher G.; Šibalić, Nikola; Kondo, Jorge M.; Adams, Charles S.; Weatherill, Kevin J.

doi:10.1103/physreva.93.063863

Cited by 39 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…One interesting aspect observed in recent anti-blockade experiments using a full counting analysis is a bimodal excitation number distribution [27,28] and a hysteresis in the excitation dynamics [13,17]. It has been under debate whether this indicates a transition to a bistable steady state of the open many body system [8,9,13,16,29,30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bistability Versus Metastability in Driven Dissipative Rydberg Gases

et al. 2017

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We investigate the possibility of a bistable phase in an open many-body system. To this end we discuss the microscopic dynamics of a continuously off-resonantly driven Rydberg lattice gas in the regime of strong decoherence. Our experimental results reveal a prolongation of the temporal correlations exceeding the lifetime of a single Rydberg excitation and show strong evidence for the formation of finite-sized Rydberg excitation clusters in the steady state. We simulate the dynamics of the system using a simplified and a full many-body rate-equation model. The results are compatible with the formation of metastable states associated with a bimodal counting distribution as well as dynamic hysteresis. Yet, a scaling analysis reveals that the correlation times remain finite for all relevant system parameters, which suggests a formation of many small Rydberg clusters and finite correlation lengths of Rydberg excitations. These results constitute strong evidence against the presence of a global bistable phase previously suggested to exist in this system.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bistability Versus Metastability in Driven Dissipative Rydberg Gases

et al. 2017

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“…δ p = −δ c , result from the expected off-resonant EIT in combination with the lensing effect. Generally, asymmetries in EIT line shapes are attributed to Rydberg interactions or super radiance [5,6,12,15,23,25] but our model indicates that micro lensing has a considerable effect. With the chosen Rydberg state, 29S 1/2 , we also minimize the possibility of significant interactions which makes our technique suitable for the line shape studies.…”

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confidence: 57%

Micro-lensing-induced line shapes in a single-mode cold-atom–hollow-core-fiber interface

2018

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We report on the observation of strong transmission line shape alterations in a cold-atom-hollow-core-fiber interface. We show that this can lead to a significant overestimation of the assigned resonant optical depth for high atom densities. By modeling light beam propagation in an inhomogeneous dispersive medium, we attribute the observations to micro lensing in the atomic ensemble in combination with the mode selection of the atom-fiber interface. The approach is confirmed by studies of Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency line shapes.

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“…However, the model also has a maximum Rabi frequency for which bistability can be present, a result that has not yet been observed in the lab. A systematic study of the critical point with changing Rydberg state was made, and we found that the critical detuning follows the form ∆ c R ∝ (n − δ) α where n is the principal quantum number, δ is the quantum defect and we measure α = 3.8 ± 0.3 ( Figure 5.3) [103]. Using this result, phenomenological formulas for Γ and V ,…”

Section: Steady State Phase Mapmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Alkali metal atomic vapours excited to high lying Rydberg states exhibit intrinsic optical bistability which has been the subject of several recent studies [42,43,103,104].…”

Section: Bistabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Terahertz Wave Detection and Imaging with a Hot Rydberg Vapour

Wade

2018

Springer Theses

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This thesis investigates the resonant interaction between Rydberg atoms in a hot caesium vapour and terahertz frequency electromagnetic fields, and explores hyperfine quantum beats modified by driving an excited state transition in an inverted ladder scheme. The 21P 3/2 caesium Rydberg atoms are excited using a three-step ladder scheme and we use a terahertz field resonant with the 21P 3/2 → 21S 1/2 transition (0.634 THz), to measure Autler-Townes splitting of a 3-photon Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) feature. The Autler-Townes splitting allows us to infer the terahertz electric field amplitude, and we show a worked example measurement of a low-amplitude electric field, yielding 25 ± 5 mVcm −1. By driving an off-resonant Raman transition which combines the laser and terahertz fields, we restrict the Rydberg excitation to areas of the caesium vapour where the laser and terahertz fields spatially overlap. We show that the terahertz field intensity is proportional I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped me through the years of my PhD study. Foremost, it has been a privilege to have the guidance of my supervisor, Kevin Weatherill-thank you for your patience, support and confidence. Thank you also to my second supervisor, Charles Adams, for your ideas and suggestions in our weekly meetings. Any of the work would have been impossible without a super team of people. Thank you to Massayuki, Natalia, Patrick, Hadrien and, in particular, Nick, to whom I am grateful for physical insight, laboratory guerrilla tactics and advice for life. Good luck to Lucy, who will be continuing work on the project, and to Massayuki and Natalia who are embarking in new employment. I would also like to thank Mike Tarbutt, Claudio Balocco and Andrew Gallant for loaning us vital equipment and offering helpful advice. Thank you to Ifan Hughes for introducing me to Durham as a summer student. I have been immensely happy working within the AtMol group-thank you to everyone who has made my time so enjoyable. In particular thank you to Rob, James, Christoph, Dan, Pete, Mark and Danny for board games and Dani, Tommy and Nick for lunchtime runs. Thank you Alistair for all the ready-salted crisps(!), and the members of fAtMol for weekly cake and physics chat. Finally I would like to thank my family, Sally, Geof and David, for their support and for passing me their interest in science.

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Intrinsic optical bistability in a strongly driven Rydberg ensemble

Cited by 39 publications

References 38 publications

Bistability Versus Metastability in Driven Dissipative Rydberg Gases

Bistability Versus Metastability in Driven Dissipative Rydberg Gases

Micro-lensing-induced line shapes in a single-mode cold-atom–hollow-core-fiber interface

Terahertz Wave Detection and Imaging with a Hot Rydberg Vapour

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