Abstract
We have developed an all-optical method for measuring the lifetimes of and Rydberg states and demonstrate its capabilities with measurements on a dilute cloud of ultracold atoms in a cryogenic environment. The method is based on the time-resolved observation of resonant light absorption by ground-state atoms and selective transfer of Rydberg atoms into the ground state at varying delay times in order to reconstruct Rydberg decay curves. Our measurements of the state indicate an increase of the lifetime at lowered environment temperatures, as expected due to decreased blackbody radiation. For the state with an attractive dipole-dipole interaction, ionization and lifetime reduction due to collisional effects are observed.
- Received 26 May 2015
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.92.012517
©2015 American Physical Society