IQUIST Seminar: Aaron Reinhard, Kenyon College

When:
Tuesday, February 1, 2022 11:00 am - 11:50 am
Where:
Virtual and 190 Engineering Sciences Building, 1101 W Springfield Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
Speaker:
Aaron Reinhard, Associate Professor, Department of Physics, Kenyon College
Description:

Title: "Coherent Control of Processes that Break the Dipole Blockade"

Abstract: The Rydberg excitation blockade has enabled impressive achievements in quantum information and simulation.  However, unwanted processes may compromise the single-excitation behavior of the blockade and reduce its efficiency.  We study one such process, state-mixing interactions.  When ultracold atoms are excited to Rydberg states near Förster resonance, up to  50% of the detected atoms can be found in dipole-coupled product states within tens of ns of excitation. There has been disagreement in the literature regarding the mechanism by which this mixing occurs.   



We use state-selective field ionization spectroscopy with single-event resolution to probe state mixing near the 43D5/2 Förster resonance in Rb.  Our method allows us to control the mechanism by which state-mixing interactions occur during Rydberg excitation.  Additionally, we use a rotary echo technique to demonstrate the coherence of the evolution of mixed three-particle states during our Rydberg excitation pulses.  The ability to coherently control state-mixing events will allow experimenters to avoid this unwanted process when implementing quantum devices using neutral atoms.



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