Approaches to Rydberg spatial distribution measurement
Graham Lochead 24/01/11
Outline
• Rydberg spatial distribution
• Our approach and progress
• Raithel’s approach
Rydberg spatial distribution
Ground state Rydberg state
Distance (microns)
V
Lowdensity
Highdensity
Experimental procedure
Automatictranslation stage
Lens setup
Autoionization
• Allows independent Rydberg excitation and investigation
• Ion detection is very sensitive
5s2 5s5p 5sns(d) 5pns(d) 5s1/2+
Graham Lochead 25/10/10
Progress towards experiment
Translation stage testing
Lens design and testing
Incorporation with main LabVIEW program
Laser locking
Graham Lochead 25/10/10
Rest of the optical layout
Raithel’s approach
Laser pulses
Fieldionization
10 micron waist forexcitation pulse
58 x magnification Leads to ~2 micronresolution at MOT
http://cold-atoms.physics.lsa.umich.edu/projects/tip/
What is measured: Spatially resolved ion signals
Single shot
500 summedimages
Blockade dependent correlations
F. ROBICHEAUX AND J. V. HERNÁNDEZ, PRA 72, 063403 (2005)
Auto-correlation
Cross-correlation of a signal with itself
Continuous
Discrete1 = correlated 0 = un-correlated -1 = anti-correlated
Auto-correlation results
Radius (microns)
Radius (microns)
Outlook
• Our experiment nearly ready
• Other groups are also studying this