We demonstrate the single-photon Rydberg excitation of cesium atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). We excite atoms directly from $6S_{1/2}$ ground state to $nP_{3/2}(n = 70 - 100)$ Rydberg state with a narrow-linewidth 319 nm ultra-violet laser. The detection of Rydberg states is performed by monitoring the reduction of fluorescence signal of the MOT as partial population on $6S_{1/2}(F = 4)$ ground state are transferred to Rydberg state. We observe clearly Autler-Townes doublet in the trap-loss spectra due to the cooling lights. Utilizing the large electric polarizibility of Rydberg atoms, we observe Stark splitting in the Autler-Townes doublet induced by background DC electric fields. We investigate the dependence of Stark shift on electric fields by theoretical analysis, and then infer the DC electric field from the measured Stark splitting. We find that there is a 44.8(4) mV/cm DC electric field in the vicinity of the cold ensemble. It indicates that high-lying Rydberg atoms can be used as sensors for DC electric fields.
A free-induction-decay (FID) type optically-pumped rubidium atomic magnetometer driven by a radio-frequency (RF) magnetic field is presented in this paper. Influences of parameters, such as the temperature of rubidium vapor cell, the power of pump beam, and the strength of RF magnetic field and static magnetic field on the amplitude and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the FID signal, have been investigated in the time domain and frequency domain. At the same time, the sensitivities of the magnetometer for the single-pass and the triple-pass probe beam cases have been compared by changing the optical path of the interaction between probe beam and atomic ensemble. Compared with the sensitivity of ∼21.2 pT/ in the case of the single-pass probe beam, the amplitude of FID signal in the case of the triple-pass probe beam has been significantly enhanced, and the sensitivity has been improved to ∼13.4 pT/. The research in this paper provids a reference for the subsequent study of influence of different buffer gas pressure on the FWHM and also a foundation for further improving the sensitivity of FID rubidium atomic magnetometer by employing a polarization-squeezed light as probe beam, to achieve a sensitivity beyond the photo-shot-noise level.
The phase noise of incident light fields can be converted into amplitude noise via absorption and dispersion effects in media under electromagnetically induced transparency. The conversion process is sensitive to two-photon detuning. This effect can be used to perform a different type of Rydberg spectroscopy. We present experimental measurements of the phase noise spectrum (PNS) with Rydberg atoms in a cesium vapor cell. Furthermore, to explore microwave field measurements, a modulation-enhanced PNS approach has been proposed and demonstrated.
We experimentally investigate trap-loss spectra of the cesium 6S1/2(F = 4) → 71P3/2 Rydberg transition by combining the cesium atomic magneto-optical trap with the narrow-linewidth, continuously tunable 318.6 nm ultraviolet laser. Specifically, the atoms in the magneto-optical trap are excited to the Rydberg state due to the ultraviolet laser single-step Rydberg excitation, which leads to the reduction of atomic fluorescence. Based on the trap-loss spectroscopy technology, the Autler–Townes (AT) splitting due to a strong cooling laser is observed, and the parameter dependence of the AT splitting interval of trap-loss spectroscopy is investigated. The effective temperature of cold atoms is measured by using simplified time-of-flight fluorescence imaging. In addition, closed-loop feedback power stabilization of 318.6 nm ultraviolet laser is carried out. This lays the foundation for further experimental research related to the Rydberg atoms using ultraviolet lasers, which is of great significance for the development of quantum computing and quantum information.
We experimentally studied the Rydberg level shift caused by the electric field, which is generated by Rydberg atom collision induced ionization in a cesium atomic ensemble. The density of charged particles caused by collisions between Rydberg atoms is changed by controlling the ground-state atomic density and optical excitation process. We measured the Rydberg level shift using Rydberg electromagnetically-induced-transparency (EIT) spectroscopy, and interpreted the physical origin using a semi-classical model. The experimental results are in good agreement with the numerical simulation. These energy shifts are important for the self-calibrated sensing of microwave field by the employing of Rydberg EIT. Moreover, in contrast to the resonant excitation case, narrow-linewidth spectroscopy with high signal-to-noise ratio would be useful for high-precision measurements.