Enhancement of Rydberg atom interactions using ac Stark shifts.

The ac Stark effect was used to induce resonant energy transfer between translationally cold 85Rb Rydberg atoms. When a 28.5 GHz dressing field was set at specific field strengths, the two-atom dipole-dipole process 43d5/2+43d5/2-->45p3/2+41f was dramatically enhanced, due to induced degeneracy of the initial and final states. This method for enhancing interactions is complementary to dc electric-field-induced resonant energy transfer, but has more flexibility due to the possibility of varying the applied frequency.

Spectroscopic observation of resonant electric dipole-dipole interactions between cold Rydberg atoms.

Resonant electric dipole-dipole interactions between cold Rydberg atoms were observed using microwave spectroscopy. Laser-cooled 85Rb atoms in a magneto-optical trap were optically excited to 45d(5/2) Rydberg states using a pulsed laser. A microwave pulse transferred a fraction of these Rydberg atoms to the 46p(3/2) state. A second microwave pulse then drove atoms in the 45d(5/2) state to the 46d(5/2) state, and was used as a probe of interatomic interactions. The spectral width of this two-photon probe transition was found to depend on the presence of the 46p(3/2) atoms, and is due to the resonant electric dipole-dipole interaction between 45d(5/2) and 46p(3/2) Rydberg atoms.