Coherent excitation of a single atom to a Rydberg state

Yevhen Miroshnychenko (1) , Alpha Gaëtan (1) , Charles Evellin (1) , Philippe Grangier (1) , Daniel Comparat (2) , Pierre Pillet (2) , Tatjana Wilk (1) , Antoine Browaeys (1)

1 Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique / Optique quantique
2 LAC - Laboratoire Aimé Cotton

We present the coherent excitation of a single Rubidium atom to the Rydberg state (58d3/2) using a two-photon transition. The experimental setup is described in detail, as well as experimental techniques and procedures. The coherence of the excitation is revealed by observing Rabi oscillations between ground and Rydberg states of the atom. We analyze the observed oscillations in detail and compare them to numerical simulations which include imperfections of our experimental system. Strategies for future improvements on the coherent manipulation of a single atom in our settings are given.

Domains: Physics [physics]; Quantum Physics [quant-ph]

Yevhen Miroshnychenko, Alpha Gaëtan, Charles Evellin, Philippe Grangier, Daniel Comparat, et al.. Coherent excitation of a single atom to a Rydberg state. Physical Review A : Atomic, molecular, and optical physics, 2010, 82, pp.013405. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevA.82.013405⟩. ⟨hal-00553551⟩