Rydberg excitation through detuned microwave transition in rubidium

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates microwave-induced Rydberg state excitation in warm rubidium vapor, revealing AC Stark shifts and enabling detuned excitation to secondary states, which enhances control for wave-mixing applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel microwave coupling scheme for Rydberg excitation in warm vapor, allowing flexible state selection and detuned excitation methods.

Findings

Microwave coupling causes AC Stark shifts of Rydberg states.

Detuned excitation to secondary Rydberg states is demonstrated.

Electromagnetically induced transparency observed in the process.

Abstract

We study the excitation of Rydberg states in warm rubidium vapor. Using an inverted wavelength excitation scheme, we observe the effect of microwave coupling between Rydberg states through electromagnetically induced transparency. We observe AC stark shifts of the Rydberg states from the microwave coupling, and demonstrate detuned excitation to a secondary Rydberg state. These results show flexibility in excitation process and state selection necessary for a variety of wave-mixing processes using Rydberg states.