From Single Atoms to Engineered “Super-Atoms”: Interfacing Photons and Atoms in Free Space

Figure 15

Rydberg excitation of two atoms. In both figures, the red circles and the green squares represent the probability to excite atom and atom , respectively, when the other atom is absent. We fit the data by the function , describing coherent oscillations with decay, shown as plain line. The error bars on the data are the RMS statistical error on the measured probability, as well as the error in the estimation of the pulse duration. The blue empty circles are the product of the probabilities to excite atom and atom when the other one is absent. The triangles are the probability to excite the two atoms simultaneously when they are driven by the same pulse. (a) Atoms separated by 18 μm. The frequencies of the Rabi oscillations are 6.5 MHz and 6.4 MHz for atom and , respectively. The agreement between the triangles and the blue circles indicates that the atoms do not interact. (b) Blockade of the Rydberg excitation when the two atoms are separated by 3.6 μm. Due to the interaction between the atoms, this double excitation is greatly suppressed. The figure is from [134].

(a)

(b)