Atom counting statistics in ensembles of interacting Rydberg atoms.
We show that the probability distributions for the number of Rydberg excitations in small ensembles of cold atoms, excited using short (100 ns) laser pulses, can be highly sub-Poissonian. The phenomenon occurs if the atom density and the principal quantum number of the excited Rydberg level are sufficiently high. Our observations are attributed to a blockade of the Rydberg atom excitation.
Liebisch
T Cubel
TC
FOCUS Center and Michigan Center for Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
Reinhard
A
A
Berman
P R
PR
Raithel
G
G