Stark-switching technique for fast quantum gates in Rydberg atoms
I. I. Ryabtsev, Denis B. Tretyakov, Ilya I. Beterov · Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics · 2003
An experiment on Ramsey interferometry of the 37S 1/2 → 37P 1/2 microwave transition in sodium Rydberg atoms has been performed. Interaction of Rydberg atoms with a cw microwave radiation was effectively controlled by a pulse of weak (<1 V cm −1 ) electric field, that manipulated the transition frequency near 70 050 MHz. The pulse detuned the microwave radiation from exact resonance, and induced additional phases to the wavefunctions of Rydberg states due to the quadratic Stark shifts. As a result, the Ramsey fringes were observable both on scanning the frequency of the microwave field and on scanning the strength of the electric field pulse. The experiment confirmed that this Stark-switching technique provides a fast and effective control of the atom–light interactions, and preserves the atomic coherence. Possible applications of this technique to experiments on quantum computers are discussed.