Interacting Circular Rydberg Atoms Trapped in Optical Tweezers

TL;DR

This paper reports the first measurement of resonant dipole-dipole interactions between circular Rydberg atoms trapped in optical tweezers, demonstrating control over interaction strength and observing spin-motion coupling effects.

Contribution

It presents the experimental observation and characterization of dipole-dipole interactions between CRAs in optical tweezers, with tunable interaction strength and analysis of induced atomic motion.

Findings

Resonant dipole-dipole interaction between CRAs observed

Interaction strength controlled via electric field orientation

Detected spin-motion coupling through atomic motion

Abstract

Circular Rydberg atoms (CRAs), i.e., Rydberg atoms with maximal orbital momentum, ideally combine long coherence times and strong interactions, a key property of quantum systems, in particular for the development of quantum technologies. However, the dipole-dipole interaction between CRAs has not been observed so far. We report the measurement and characterization of the resonant dipole-dipole interaction between two CRAs, individually trapped in optical tweezers, and find excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. We demonstrate a dynamic control over the strength of the interaction by tuning the orientation of an electric field. We use the interaction between the CRAs as a meter for the interatomic distance, and record the relative motion between two atoms in their traps. This motion, that we induce through the interaction between Rydberg levels with permanent electric dipoles, transiently populated during the preparation of the circular states, is a signature of spin-motion coupling.