%0 Journal Article %1 Beguin2013Direct %A Béguin, L. %A Vernier, A. %A Chicireanu, R. %A Lahaye, T. %A Browaeys, A. %D 2013 %I American Physical Society %J Physical Review Letters %K fomprog13-uitw, jclubcore, jclubdone, wzi-workshop-2017 %P 263201+ %R 10.1103/physrevlett.110.263201 %T Direct Measurement of the van der Waals Interaction between Two Rydberg Atoms %U http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.110.263201 %V 110 %X We report the direct measurement of the van der Waals interaction between two isolated, single Rydberg atoms separated by a controlled distance of a few micrometers. Working in a regime where the single-atom Rabi frequency for excitation to the Rydberg state is comparable to the interaction, we observe partial Rydberg blockade, whereby the time-dependent populations of the various two-atom states exhibit coherent oscillations with several frequencies. Quantitative comparison of the data with a simple model based on the optical Bloch equations allows us to extract the van der Waals energy, and observe its characteristic C6/R6 dependence. The measured C6 coefficients agree well with ab initio calculations, and we observe their dramatic increase with the principal quantum number n of the Rydberg state.

@article{Beguin2013Direct, abstract = {{We report the direct measurement of the van der Waals interaction between two isolated, single Rydberg atoms separated by a controlled distance of a few micrometers. Working in a regime where the single-atom Rabi frequency for excitation to the Rydberg state is comparable to the interaction, we observe partial Rydberg blockade, whereby the time-dependent populations of the various two-atom states exhibit coherent oscillations with several frequencies. Quantitative comparison of the data with a simple model based on the optical Bloch equations allows us to extract the van der Waals energy, and observe its characteristic C6/R6 dependence. The measured C6 coefficients agree well with ab initio calculations, and we observe their dramatic increase with the principal quantum number n of the Rydberg state.}}, added-at = {2019-02-26T15:22:34.000+0100}, author = {B\'{e}guin, L. and Vernier, A. and Chicireanu, R. and Lahaye, T. and Browaeys, A.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/223733cea4c84a22e001183b7259b5b79/rspreeuw}, citeulike-article-id = {12445410}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.110.263201}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v110/i26/e263201}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://link.aps.org/pdf/PRL/v110/i26/e263201}, doi = {10.1103/physrevlett.110.263201}, interhash = {b60b25af496d15836ff2beb2fc3a739e}, intrahash = {23733cea4c84a22e001183b7259b5b79}, journal = {Physical Review Letters}, keywords = {fomprog13-uitw, jclubcore, jclubdone, wzi-workshop-2017}, month = jun, pages = {263201+}, posted-at = {2013-06-24 21:09:53}, priority = {2}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, timestamp = {2019-02-26T15:22:34.000+0100}, title = {{Direct Measurement of the van der Waals Interaction between Two Rydberg Atoms}}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.110.263201}, volume = 110, year = 2013 }