Preparation of circular Rydberg states in helium with $n\ge 70$ using a modified version of the crossed-fields method

Abstract

Circular Rydberg states with $n=70$ have been prepared in helium using a modified version of the crossed-fields method. This approach to the preparation of high-$n$ circular Rydberg states overcomes limitations of the standard crossed-fields method which arise at this, and higher, values of $n$. The experiments were performed with atoms traveling in pulsed supersonic beams that were initially laser photoexcited from the metastable 1s2s${}^3$S${}_1$ level to the 1s73s${}^3$S${}_1$ level by resonance-enhanced two-color two-photon excitation in a magnetic field of 16.154 G. These excited atoms were then polarized using a perpendicular electric field of 0.844~V/cm, and transferred by a pulse of microwave radiation to the state that, when adiabatically depolarized, evolves into the $n=70$ circular state in zero electric field. The excited atoms were detected by state-selective electric field ionization. Each step of the circular state preparation process was validated by comparison with the calculated atomic energy level structure in the perpendicular electric and magnetic fields used. Of the atoms initially excited to the 1s73s${}^3$S${}_1$ level, $\sim 80$\% were transferred to the $n=70$ circular state. At these high values of $n$, $\Delta n=1$ circular-to-circular Rydberg state transitions occur at frequencies below 20 GHz. Consequently, atoms in these states, and the circular state preparation process presented here, are well suited to hybrid cavity QED experiments with Rydberg atoms and superconducting microwave circuits.

arXiv comment13 pages, 9 figures

References in corpus (25)

• Quantum jumps of light recording the birth and death of a photon in a cavity
• Theory and applications of atomic and ionic polarizabilities
• Hybrid Quantum Processors: molecular ensembles as quantum memory for solid state circuits
• Coplanar Waveguide Resonators for Circuit Quantum Electrodynamics
• Calculation of accurate permanent dipole moments of the lowest ${}^{1,3}{\Sigma }^{+}$ states of heteronuclear alkali dimers using extended basis sets
• Building one molecule from a reservoir of two atoms
• Asymmetric Landau-Zener tunneling in a periodic potential
• Coupling a single electron to a Bose-Einstein condensate
• Towards quantum simulation with circular Rydberg atoms
• Driving Rydberg-Rydberg transitions from a co-planar microwave waveguide
• Absolute and ratio measurements of the polarizability of Na, K, and Rb with an atom interferometer
• Ultracold chemical reactions of a single Rydberg atom in a dense gas
• Hybrid Atom--Photon Quantum Gate in a Superconducting Microwave Resonator
• Observation of enhanced rate coefficients in the H${}_2^{+}$ + H${}_2$ $\to$ H${}_3^{+}$ + H reaction at low collision energies
• Imaging electric fields in the vicinity of cryogenic surfaces using Rydberg atoms
• Manipulating Rydberg atoms close to surfaces at cryogenic temperatures
• Energy shifts of Rydberg atoms due to patch fields near metal surfaces
• Fast and accurate circularization of a Rydberg atom
• Strong coupling between moving atoms and slow-light Cherenkov photons
• Rydberg atom mediated non-destructive readout of collective rotational states in polar molecule arrays
• Nondestructive Detection of Polar Molecules via Rydberg Atoms
• Microwave spectroscopy of the $1\mathrm{s}n\mathrm{p}{}^3{\mathrm{P}}_J$ fine structure of high Rydberg states in ${}^4$He
• Preparation of circular Rydberg states in helium using the crossed fields method
• Rydberg-Stark states in oscillating electric fields
• Reduction of the dc electric field sensitivity of circular Rydberg states using non-resonant dressing fields

Cited by in corpus (11)

• Quantum logic and entanglement by neutral Rydberg atoms: methods and fidelity
• Laser Trapping of Circular Rydberg Atoms
• Coupling Rydberg atoms to microwave fields in a superconducting coplanar waveguide resonator
• Circularizing Rydberg atoms with time-dependent optical traps
• Indium tin oxide films meet circular Rydberg atoms: prospects for novel quantum simulation schemes
• Excitation and characterization of long-lived hydrogenic Rydberg states of nitric oxide
• Theory of waveguide-QED with moving emitters
• Cavity-enhanced Ramsey spectroscopy at a Rydberg-atom-superconducting-circuit interface
• Tunable two-species spin models with Rydberg atoms in circular and elliptical states
• A Rydberg hydrogen beam for studies of stimulated deexcitation
• Long-range model of vibrational autoionization in core-nonpenetrating Rydberg states of NO