Dynamically probing ultracold lattice gases via Rydberg molecules

We show that the excitation of long-range Rydberg molecules in a three-dimensional optical lattice can be used as a position- and time-sensitive probe for doubly occupied sites in the system. To this end, we detect the ions which are continuously generated by the decay of the formed Rydberg molecule...

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Main Authors: T Manthey, T Niederprüm, O Thomas, H Ott
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2015-01-01
Series:New Journal of Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/10/103024
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author T Manthey
T Niederprüm
O Thomas
H Ott
author_facet T Manthey
T Niederprüm
O Thomas
H Ott
author_sort T Manthey
collection DOAJ
description We show that the excitation of long-range Rydberg molecules in a three-dimensional optical lattice can be used as a position- and time-sensitive probe for doubly occupied sites in the system. To this end, we detect the ions which are continuously generated by the decay of the formed Rydberg molecules. While a superfluid gas shows molecule formation for all parameters, a Mott insulator with n = 1 filling reveals a strong suppression of the number of formed molecules. In the limit of weak probing, the technique can be used to probe the superfluid to Mott-insulator transition in real-time. Our method can be extended to higher fillings and has various applications for the real-time diagnosis and manipulation of ultracold lattice gases.
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spelling doaj.art-86523349623040c39201276a8a8a38352023-08-08T14:21:42ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302015-01-01171010302410.1088/1367-2630/17/10/103024Dynamically probing ultracold lattice gases via Rydberg moleculesT Manthey0T Niederprüm1O Thomas2H Ott3Department of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS, Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, Gottlieb-Daimler-str. 46, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, GermanyDepartment of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS, Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, Gottlieb-Daimler-str. 46, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, GermanyDepartment of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS, Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, Gottlieb-Daimler-str. 46, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, GermanyDepartment of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS, Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, Gottlieb-Daimler-str. 46, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, GermanyWe show that the excitation of long-range Rydberg molecules in a three-dimensional optical lattice can be used as a position- and time-sensitive probe for doubly occupied sites in the system. To this end, we detect the ions which are continuously generated by the decay of the formed Rydberg molecules. While a superfluid gas shows molecule formation for all parameters, a Mott insulator with n = 1 filling reveals a strong suppression of the number of formed molecules. In the limit of weak probing, the technique can be used to probe the superfluid to Mott-insulator transition in real-time. Our method can be extended to higher fillings and has various applications for the real-time diagnosis and manipulation of ultracold lattice gases.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/10/103024Rydberg physicsMott insulatoroptical lattices
spellingShingle T Manthey
T Niederprüm
O Thomas
H Ott
Dynamically probing ultracold lattice gases via Rydberg molecules
New Journal of Physics
Rydberg physics
Mott insulator
optical lattices
title Dynamically probing ultracold lattice gases via Rydberg molecules
title_full Dynamically probing ultracold lattice gases via Rydberg molecules
title_fullStr Dynamically probing ultracold lattice gases via Rydberg molecules
title_full_unstemmed Dynamically probing ultracold lattice gases via Rydberg molecules
title_short Dynamically probing ultracold lattice gases via Rydberg molecules
title_sort dynamically probing ultracold lattice gases via rydberg molecules
topic Rydberg physics
Mott insulator
optical lattices
url https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/10/103024
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AT tniederprum dynamicallyprobingultracoldlatticegasesviarydbergmolecules
AT othomas dynamicallyprobingultracoldlatticegasesviarydbergmolecules
AT hott dynamicallyprobingultracoldlatticegasesviarydbergmolecules