Photodissociation of long-range Rydberg molecules

TL;DR

This study uses photodissociation of ultracold long-range Rydberg molecules to probe their electronic structure, revealing entanglement and enabling hyperfine-spin manipulation of atoms.

Contribution

It introduces a method to characterize long-range Rydberg molecules and demonstrates hyperfine-spin control via Rydberg interactions.

Findings

Quantified entanglement in Rydberg molecules.

Matched experimental dissociation rates with theoretical models.

Achieved hyperfine-spin flip of a ground-state atom.

Abstract

We present photodissociation of ultracold long-range Rydberg molecules as a tool to characterize their electronic properties. We photoassociate K2 37P molecules with highly entangled electronic and nuclear spins of the two bound atoms and quantify the entanglement by projection of the molecular state onto non-interacting atoms using radiofrequency photodissociation. By comparison of experimental photodissociation rates with theoretical predictions we further characterize the electronic and nuclear wavefunction of the photoassociated molecules. Based on the complete characterization of the formed long-range Rydberg molecules, we demonstrate a full hyperfine-spin flip of a free ground-state atom through the interaction with a Rydberg atom.