1209.1948 (Valentina Parigi et al.)

Observation and measurement of "giant" dispersive optical
non-linearities in an ensemble of cold Rydberg atoms    [PDF]

Valentina Parigi, Erwan Bimbard, Jovica Stanojevic, Andrew J. Hilliard, Florence Nogrette, Rosa Tualle-Brouri, Alexei Ourjoumtsev, Philippe Grangier

We observe and measure dispersive optical non-linearities in an ensemble of cold Rydberg atoms placed inside an optical cavity. The experimental results are in agreement with a simple model where the optical non-linearities are due to the progressive appearance of a Rydberg blockaded volume within the medium. The measurements allow a direct estimation of the "blockaded fraction" of atoms within the atomic ensemble.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1209.1948