Driving alkali Rydberg transitions with a phase-modulated optical lattice

Abstract

We develop and demonstrate a spectroscopic method for Rydberg-Rydberg transitions using a phase-controlled and -modulated, standing-wave laser field focused on a cloud of cold ${}^{85}$Rb Rydberg atoms. The method is based on the ponderomotive (${\mathbf{A}}^2$) interaction of the Rydberg electron, which has less-restrictive selection rules than electric-dipole couplings, allowing us to probe both $n{S}_{1/2}\to n{P}_{1/2}$ and $n{S}_{1/2}\to (n+1)S_{1/2}$ transitions in first-order. Without any need to increase laser power, third and fourth-order sub-harmonic drives are employed to access Rydberg transitions in the 40 to 70 GHz frequency range using widely-available optical phase modulators in the Ku-band (12 to 18 GHz). Measurements agree well with simulations based on the model we develop. The spectra have prominent Doppler-free, Fourier-limited components. The method paves the way for optical Doppler-free high-precision spectroscopy of Rydberg-Rydberg transitions and for spatially-selective qubit manipulation with $\mu$m-scale resolution in Rydberg-based simulators and quantum computers.

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Cited by in corpus (1)

• Microwave photo-association of fine-structure-induced Rydberg $(n+2)D_{5/2}n{F}_J$ macro-dimer molecules of cesium