Microwave pump-probe spectroscopy of the dipole-dipole interaction in a cold Rydberg gas

摘要

Microwave pump-probe experiments starting with a cold gas of Rb 34s atoms confirm that cusped line shapes observed in dipole-dipole broadened microwave transitions are due to atoms which are widely separated and exhibit small dipole-dipole energy shifts. When the experiments are interpreted in terms of a nearest-neighbor model, they demonstrate that it is possible to select pairs of atoms based on their separation and orientation.