Electric-field induced dipole blockade with Rydberg atoms

Thibault Vogt (1) , Matthieu Viteau (1) , Amodsen Chotia (1) , Jianming Zhao (1) , Daniel Comparat (1) , Pierre Pillet (1)

1 LAC - Laboratoire Aimé Cotton

High resolution laser Stark excitation of np (60 < n < 85) Rydberg states of ultra-cold cesium atoms shows an efficient blockade of the excitation attributed to long-range dipole-dipole interaction. The dipole blockade effect is observed as a quenching of the Rydberg excitation depending on the value of the dipole moment induced by the external electric field. Effects of eventual ions which could match the dipole blockade effect are discussed in detail but are ruled out for our experimental conditions. Analytic and Monte-Carlo simulations of the excitation of an ensemble of interacting Rydberg atoms agree with the experiments indicates a major role of the nearest neighboring Rydberg atom.

Mots clés: Dipole-dipole interaction; dipole blockade; Rydberg atoms

Domaines: Physique Atomique [physics.atom-ph]

Thibault Vogt, Matthieu Viteau, Amodsen Chotia, Jianming Zhao, Daniel Comparat, et al.. Electric-field induced dipole blockade with Rydberg atoms. 2007. ⟨hal-00135793v2⟩