Efficient photo-ionizing elimination of detrimental electric fields for Rydberg atoms

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2607.08418v1
• Date: Thu, 09 Jul 2026 12:43:05 GMT
• Title: Efficient photo-ionizing elimination of detrimental electric fields for Rydberg atoms
• Abstract summary: Rydberg atoms are highly sensitive to external electric fields due to their exaggerated electronic properties.<n>An uncontrolled stray electric field can be detrimental, severely degrading their quantum control.<n>We demonstrate a universal scheme that relies on the efficient creation of an in-vacuum plasma source by photo-ionizing laser-cooled atoms.
• Score: 15.531757731849025
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: Rydberg atoms are highly sensitive to external electric fields due to their exaggerated electronic properties. This unique feature lays the foundation for many of their applications in quantum science. However, an uncontrolled stray electric field can be detrimental, severely degrading their quantum control. In this work, we demonstrate a universal scheme that relies on the efficient creation of an in-vacuum plasma source by photo-ionizing laser-cooled atoms to eliminate detrimental electric fields in a Rydberg-atom tweezer array platform, requiring only readily available resources. With this method, we began with a Stark-ionized Rydberg continuum spectrum caused by a large, unknown stray electric field and ultimately recovered stable, coherent excitation of an individual Rydberg state after fully eliminating the field. Our method is directly applicable to existing Rydberg-atom platforms and can also be useful in other experiments sensitive to stray electric fields.

Related papers

• Three-dimensional three-photon Stark spectroscopy of a single Rb Rydberg atom in an ultrahigh-vacuum glass cell with eight electrodes [0.0]
  Quantum computing and quantum simulation with ultracold neutral atoms require Rydberg excitation of individual atoms in atomic arrays.<n>We performed a spectroscopic study of three-photon Rydberg excitation of a single Rb atom in an optical dipole trap in the presence of an external DC electric field.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2026-07-17T08:55:38Z)
• Suppressing the Motion of Rydberg Atoms in Inhomogeneous Electric Fields via Stark Echo [0.0]
  Rydberg atoms possess strong electric dipole transitions and tunable energy levels.<n>Inhomogeneous stray electric fields originating from the surface can induce position-dependent Stark forces.<n>We experimentally investigate these effects using time-of-flight and spectroscopic techniques.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2026-06-08T17:19:33Z)
• Zero-field identification and control of hydrogen-related electron-nuclear spin registers in diamond [73.17247851945764]
  We introduce an approach to identify the hyperfine components and nuclear spin species of spin defects through measurements on a nearby NV center.<n>Results provide a guide to resolving the defect structures using $textitab initio$ calculations.<n>Our characterization and control tools establish a framework to expand the defect landscape for hybrid electron-nuclear registers.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-10-22T13:50:54Z)
• Towards a fictitious magnetic field trap for both ground and Rydberg state $^{87}$Rb atoms via the evanescent field of an optical nanofibre [0.0]
  We propose a trap for $87$Rb cold atoms that confines both the electronic ground state and a Rydberg state.<n>This is achieved by combining a fictitious magnetic field induced by optical nanofibre guided light and an external bias magnetic field.<n>We discuss the impact of the quadrupole polarisability of the Rydberg atoms on the trap potential and demonstrate how the size of a Rydberg atom influences the ponderomotive potential generated by the nanofibre-guided light field.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-07-17T06:35:54Z)
• Impact of micromotion and field-axis misalignment on the excitation of Rydberg states of ions in a Paul trap [0.0]
  We develop a model describing a single trapped Rydberg ion, which we solve numerically via Floquet theory and analytically using a perturbative approach.<n>We analyze in which parameter regimes addressable and energetically isolated Rydberg lines persist, which are an important requirement for conducting coherent manipulations.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-10-31T15:42:29Z)
• Electric field control for experiments with atoms in Rydberg states [4.688080053195396]
  Atoms in Rydberg states have large polarizabilities, making them highly sensitive to electric fields. It is therefore essential to cancel these stray electric fields. We present a novel, simple, and highly-compact electrode assembly, implemented in a glass cell-based vacuum chamber design, for stray electric field cancellation.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-09-18T10:38:00Z)
• An electrically-driven single-atom `flip-flop' qubit [43.55994393060723]
  Quantum information is encoded in the electron-nuclear states of a phosphorus donor. Results pave the way to the construction of solid-state quantum processors.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-02-09T13:05:12Z)
• Near-Surface Electrical Characterisation of Silicon Electronic Devices Using Focused keV Ions [45.82374977939355]
  We show how to implant low-energy ions into silicon devices featuring an enlarged 60x60 $mu$m sensitive area. Despite the weak internal electric field, near-unity charge collection efficiency is obtained from the entire sensitive area. This can be explained by the critical role that the high-quality thermal gate oxide plays in the ion detection response.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-01-27T06:29:46Z)
• Anderson localization of a Rydberg electron [68.8204255655161]
  Rydberg atoms inherit their level structure, symmetries, and scaling behavior from the hydrogen atom. limit is reached by simultaneously increasing the number of ground state atoms and the level of excitation of the Rydberg atom.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-11-19T18:01:24Z)
• Quantum coherent spin-electric control in a molecular nanomagnet at clock transitions [57.50861918173065]
  Electrical control of spins at the nanoscale offers architectural advantages in spintronics. Recent demonstrations of electric-field (E-field) sensitivities in molecular spin materials are tantalising. E-field sensitivities reported so far are rather weak, prompting the question of how to design molecules with stronger spin-electric couplings.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-05-03T09:27:31Z)
• High-Fidelity Entanglement and Detection of Alkaline-Earth Rydberg Atoms [48.093689931392866]
  Controlled two-qubit entanglement generation has so far been limited to alkali species. We demonstrate a novel approach utilizing the two-valence electron structure of individual alkaline-earth Rydberg atoms. We find fidelities for Rydberg state detection, single-atom Rabi operations, and two-atom entanglement surpassing previously published values.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-01-13T18:42:42Z)

This list is automatically generated from the titles and abstracts of the papers in this site.

This site does not guarantee the quality of this site (including all information) and is not responsible for any consequences.