Direct single-shot observation of millimeter wave superradiance in Rydberg-Rydberg transitions

Abstract

We have directly detected millimeter wave (mm-wave) free space superradiant emission from Rydberg states ($n\sim 30$) of barium atoms in a single shot. We trigger the cooperative effects with a weak initial pulse and detect with single-shot sensitivity and 20 ps time resolution, which allows measurement and shot-by-shot analysis of the distribution of decay rates, time delays, and time-dependent frequency shifts. Cooperative line shifts and decay rates are observed that exceed values that would correspond to the Doppler width of 250 kHz by a factor of 20 and the spontaneous emission rate of 50 Hz by a factor of $10^5$. The initial superradiant output pulse is followed by evolution of the radiation-coupled many-body system toward complex long-lasting emission modes. A comparison to a mean-field theory is presented which reproduces the quantitative time-domain results, but fails to account for either the frequency-domain observations or the long-lived features.

arXiv comment5 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (14)

• The Buffer Gas Beam: An Intense, Cold, and Slow Source for Atoms and Molecules
• Prospects for a mHz-linewidth laser
• Subradiance in a Large Cloud of Cold Atoms
• Subwavelength vacuum lattices and atom-atom interactions in photonic crystals
• Superradiance in a Large and Dilute Cloud of Cold Atoms in the Linear-Optics Regime
• High-flux beam source for cold, slow atoms or molecules
• Collective atomic scattering and motional effects in a dense coherent medium
• Observation of single-photon superradiance and the cooperative Lamb shift in an extended sample of cold atoms
• Single Photon Subradiance: Quantum control of spontaneous emission and ultrafast readout
• Controlled Dicke Subradiance from a Large Cloud of Two-Level Systems
• Shifts of a resonance line in a dense atomic sample
• Intense Atomic and Molecular Beams via Neon Buffer Gas Cooling
• Radiative atom-atom interactions in optically dense media: Quantum corrections to the Lorentz-Lorenz formula
• Relaxation oscillations, stability, and cavity feedback in a superradiant Raman laser

Cited by in corpus (15)

• Emergent dark states from superradiant dynamics in multilevel atoms in a cavity
• Rydberg superatoms: An artificial quantum system for quantum information processing and quantum optics
• Characterizing superradiant dynamics in atomic arrays via a cumulant expansion approach
• Theoretical study of early time superradiance for atom clouds and arrays
• Superradiance and subradiance in inverted atomic arrays
• Measurements of individual and ensemble lifetimes of high-lying Rb Rydberg states
• Observation of Blackbody Radiation Enhanced Superradiance in ultracold Rydberg Gases
• Real-time detection of Rydberg state dynamics of cold atoms using an optical cavity
• Breakdown of steady-state superradiance in extended driven atomic arrays
• Superradiance-induced multistability in driven Rydberg lattice gases
• Symmetry based efficient simulation of dissipative quantum many-body dynamics in subwavelength quantum emitter arrays
• Quantum criticality driven by the cavity coupling in Rabi-dimer model
• Master equation for multilevel interference in a superradiant medium
• Attaining near-ideal Dicke superradiance in expanded spatial domains
• Quantum correlated steady states under competing collective and individual decay