Dressing of ultracold atoms by their Rydberg states in a IoffePritchard trap

Michael Mayle (1) , Igor Lesanovsky (2) , Peter Schmelcher (1)

1 ZOQ - Zentrum für Optische Quantentechnologien | Center for Optical Quantum Technologies [Hamburg]
2 School of Physics and Astronomy [Nottingham]

We explore how the extraordinary properties of Rydberg atoms can be employed to impact the motion of ultracold ground state atoms. Specifically, we use an off-resonant two-photon laser dressing to map features of the Rydberg states on ground state atoms. It is demonstrated that the interplay between the spatially varying quantization axis of the considered Ioffe-Pritchard field and the fixed polarizations of the laser transitions provides the possibility of substantially manipulating the ground state trapping potential.

Mots clés: 32.10.Ee; 32.80.Ee; 32.60.+i; 37.10.Gh

Michael Mayle, Igor Lesanovsky, Peter Schmelcher. Dressing of ultracold atoms by their Rydberg states in a IoffePritchard trap. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, 2010, 43 (15), pp.155003. ⟨10.1088/0953-4075/43/15/155003⟩. ⟨hal-00569817⟩