Session U4: Focus Session: Cold Rydberg Gases
10:30 AM–12:30 PM, Friday, June 17, 2011
Room: A704
Chair: Michael Noel, Bryn Mawr College
Abstract ID: BAPS.2011.DAMOP.U4.3
Abstract: U4.00003 : Enhancement of Rydberg-atom trapping efficiency in a ponderomotive optical lattice using lattice translations
11:30 AM–11:42 AM
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Abstract 
Authors:
Sarah E. Anderson
(University of Michigan)
Georg Raithel
(University of Michigan)
We present experimental results on the one-dimensional trapping of cold $^{85}$Rb Rydberg atoms in a ponderomotive optical lattice of laser wavelength 1064~nm. The challenge associated with this red-detuned lattice is that locations of potential minima in the ground state correspond to potential maxima in the Rydberg state. When ground state atoms in the lattice are excited to Rydberg states, they are located near potential maxima, and consequently trapping is limited. We present a method to overcome this difficulty by translating the lattice by $\lambda /4$ immediately after excitation, thus bringing the locations of the potential minima in the Rydberg state to the locations of the atoms. We report experimental microwave spectroscopy results that confirm this lattice phase-shift technique as an effective method to enhance the lattice's trapping efficiency.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2011.DAMOP.U4.3