Self-Induced Transparency in Warm and Strongly Interacting Rydberg Gases

Bai, Zhengyang; Adams, Charles S.; Huang, Guoxiang; Li, Weibin

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.125.263605

Self-Induced Transparency in Warm and Strongly Interacting Rydberg Gases

Bai, Zhengyang; Adams, Charles S.; Huang, Guoxiang; Li, Weibin

Authors

Zhengyang Bai

Professor Stuart Adams c.s.adams@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Guoxiang Huang

Weibin Li

Abstract

We study dispersive optical nonlinearities of short pulses propagating in high number density, warm atomic vapors where the laser resonantly excites atoms to Rydberg P states via a single-photon transition. Three different regimes of the light-atom interaction, dominated by either Doppler broadening, Rydberg atom interactions, or decay due to thermal collisions between ground state and Rydberg atoms, are found. We show that using fast Rabi flopping and strong Rydberg atom interactions, both in the order of gigahertz, can overcome the Doppler effect as well as collisional decay, leading to a sizable dispersive optical nonlinearity on nanosecond timescales. In this regime, self-induced transparency (SIT) emerges when areas of the nanosecond pulse are determined primarily by the Rydberg atom interaction, rather than the area theorem of interaction-free SIT. We identify, both numerically and analytically, the condition to realize Rydberg SIT. Our study contributes to efforts in achieving quantum information processing using glass cell technologies.

Citation

Bai, Z., Adams, C. S., Huang, G., & Li, W. (2020). Self-Induced Transparency in Warm and Strongly Interacting Rydberg Gases. Physical Review Letters, 125(26), Article 263605. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.125.263605

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Dec 1, 2020
Online Publication Date	Dec 31, 2020
Publication Date	Dec 31, 2020
Deposit Date	Sep 30, 2021
Publicly Available Date	Sep 30, 2021
Journal	Physical Review Letters
Print ISSN	0031-9007
Electronic ISSN	1079-7114
Publisher	American Physical Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	125
Issue	26
Article Number	263605
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.125.263605

Files

Published Journal Article (1.3 Mb)
PDF

Copyright Statement
Reprinted with permission from the American Physical Society: Bai, Zhengyang, Adams, Charles S., Huang, Guoxiang & Li, Weibin (2020). Self-Induced Transparency in Warm and Strongly Interacting Rydberg Gases. Physical Review Letters 125(26): 263605. © (2020) by the American Physical Society. Readers may view, browse, and/or download material for temporary copying purposes only, provided these uses are for noncommercial personal purposes. Except as provided by law, this material may not be further reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, adapted, performed, displayed, published, or sold in whole or part, without prior written permission from the American Physical Society.