Radiation trapping in a dense cold Rydberg gas

Cold atomic gases resonantly excited to Rydberg states can exhibit strong optical nonlinearity at the single photon level. We observe that in such samples radiation trapping leads to an additional mechanism for Rydberg excitation. Conversely we demonstrate that Rydberg excitation provides a novel in...

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Main Authors: Sadler, D.P., Bridge, E.M., Boddy, D., Bounds, A.D., Keegan, N.C., Lochead, G., Jones, M.P.A., Olmos, Beatriz
Format: Article
Published: American Physical Society 2017
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41121/
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author Sadler, D.P.
Bridge, E.M.
Boddy, D.
Bounds, A.D.
Keegan, N.C.
Lochead, G.
Jones, M.P.A.
Olmos, Beatriz
author_facet Sadler, D.P.
Bridge, E.M.
Boddy, D.
Bounds, A.D.
Keegan, N.C.
Lochead, G.
Jones, M.P.A.
Olmos, Beatriz
author_sort Sadler, D.P.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Cold atomic gases resonantly excited to Rydberg states can exhibit strong optical nonlinearity at the single photon level. We observe that in such samples radiation trapping leads to an additional mechanism for Rydberg excitation. Conversely we demonstrate that Rydberg excitation provides a novel in situ probe of the spectral, statistical, temporal and spatial properties of the trapped re-scattered light. We also show that absorption can lead to an excitation saturation that mimics the Rydberg blockade effect. Collective effects due to multiple scattering may co-exist with cooperative effects due to long-range interactions between the Rydberg atoms, adding a new dimension to quantum optics experiments with cold Rydberg gases.
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spelling nottingham-411212020-05-04T18:29:43Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41121/ Radiation trapping in a dense cold Rydberg gas Sadler, D.P. Bridge, E.M. Boddy, D. Bounds, A.D. Keegan, N.C. Lochead, G. Jones, M.P.A. Olmos, Beatriz Cold atomic gases resonantly excited to Rydberg states can exhibit strong optical nonlinearity at the single photon level. We observe that in such samples radiation trapping leads to an additional mechanism for Rydberg excitation. Conversely we demonstrate that Rydberg excitation provides a novel in situ probe of the spectral, statistical, temporal and spatial properties of the trapped re-scattered light. We also show that absorption can lead to an excitation saturation that mimics the Rydberg blockade effect. Collective effects due to multiple scattering may co-exist with cooperative effects due to long-range interactions between the Rydberg atoms, adding a new dimension to quantum optics experiments with cold Rydberg gases. American Physical Society 2017-01-24 Article PeerReviewed Sadler, D.P., Bridge, E.M., Boddy, D., Bounds, A.D., Keegan, N.C., Lochead, G., Jones, M.P.A. and Olmos, Beatriz (2017) Radiation trapping in a dense cold Rydberg gas. Physical Review A, 95 (1). 013839/1-013839/7. ISSN 2469-9934 http://journals.aps.org/pra/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevA.95.013839 doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.95.013839 doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.95.013839
spellingShingle Sadler, D.P.
Bridge, E.M.
Boddy, D.
Bounds, A.D.
Keegan, N.C.
Lochead, G.
Jones, M.P.A.
Olmos, Beatriz
Radiation trapping in a dense cold Rydberg gas
title Radiation trapping in a dense cold Rydberg gas
title_full Radiation trapping in a dense cold Rydberg gas
title_fullStr Radiation trapping in a dense cold Rydberg gas
title_full_unstemmed Radiation trapping in a dense cold Rydberg gas
title_short Radiation trapping in a dense cold Rydberg gas
title_sort radiation trapping in a dense cold rydberg gas
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41121/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41121/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41121/