Article,
Imaging Spatial Correlations of Rydberg Excitations in Cold Atom Clouds
Physical Review Letters, (August 2011)
DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.107.103001
Abstract
We use direct spatial imaging of cold 85Rb Rydberg atom clouds to measure the Rydberg-Rydberg correlation function. The results are in qualitative agreement with theoretical predictions F. Robicheaux and J. V. Hernández Phys. Rev. A 72 063403 (2005). We determine the blockade radius for states 44D5/2, 60D5/2, and 70D5/2 and investigate the dependence of the correlation behavior on excitation conditions and detection delay. Experimental data hint at the existence of long-range order.
