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Suppression of Excitation and Spectral Broadening Induced by Interactions in a Cold Gas of Rydberg Atoms

Kilian Singer·Markus Reetz-Lamour·Thomas Amthor·Luis Gustavo Marcassa·Matthias Weidemüller
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Abstract

We report on the observation of ultralong range interactions in a gas of cold Rubidium Rydberg atoms. The van-der-Waals interaction between a pair of Rydberg atoms separated as far as 100,000 Bohr radii features two important effects: Spectral broadening of the resonance lines and suppression of excitation with increasing density. The density dependence of these effects is investigated in detail for the S- and P- Rydberg states with main quantum numbers n ~ 60 and n ~ 80 excited by narrow-band continuous-wave laser light. The density-dependent suppression of excitation can be interpreted as the onset of an interaction-induced local blockade.

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Kilian Singer, Markus Reetz-Lamour, Thomas Amthor, Luis Gustavo Marcassa, Matthias Weidemüller. 2004-07-09. Suppression of Excitation and Spectral Broadening Induced by Interactions in a Cold Gas of Rydberg Atoms. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.93.163001

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