QUROPE Quantum Information Processing and Communication in Europe

sing electromagnetically induced transparency and photon storage, the strong dipolar interactions between Rydberg atoms and the resulting dipole blockade can be mapped onto light fields to realise optical non-linearities and interactions at the single photon level. We report on the realisation of an experimental apparatus designed to study interactions between single photons stored as Rydberg excitations in optically trapped microscopic ensembles of ultracold 87Rb atoms.

Electrometry is performed using Rydberg states to evaluate the quadratic Stark shift of the 5s2 1S0-5s5p 3P0 clock transition in strontium. By measuring the Stark shift of the highly excited 5s75d 1D2 state using electromagnetically induced transparency, we characterize the electric field with sufficient precision to provide tight constraints on the systematic shift to the clock transition.

We present a quantitative model for magneto-optical traps operating on narrow transitions, where the transition linewidth and the recoil shift are comparable. We combine a quantum treatment of the light scattering process with a Monte-Carlo simulation of the atomic motion.

We propose and demonstrate the laser cooling and trapping of Rydberg-dressed Sr atoms.

We study the influence of Rydberg dressed interactions in a one-dimensional (1D) Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC). We show that 1D is advantageous over 3D for observing BEC Rydberg dressing. The effects of dressing are studied by investigating collective BEC dynamics after a rapid switch-off of the Rydberg dressing interaction. The results can be interpreted as an effective modification of the $s$-wave scattering length.

We present our experimental investigation of an optical Raman transition between the magnetic clock states of $^87$Rb in an atom chip magnetic trap. The transfer of atomic population is induced by a pair of diode lasers which couple the two clock states off-resonantly to an intermediate state manifold.

Quantum repeaters promise to enable quantum networks over global distances by circumventing the exponential decrease in success probability inherent in direct photon transmission. We propose a realistic, functionally integrated quantum-repeater implementation based on single atoms in optical cavities. Entanglement is directly generated between the single-atom quantum memory and a photon at telecom wavelength. The latter is collected with high efficiency and adjustable temporal and spectral properties into a spatially well-defined cavity mode.

Distributed quantum networks will allow users to perform tasks and to interact in ways which are not possible with present-day technology. Their implementation is a key challenge for quantum science and requires the development of stationary quantum nodes that can send and receive as well as store and process quantum information locally. The nodes are connected by quantum channels for flying information carriers, i.e., photons. These channels serve both to directly exchange quantum information between nodes and to distribute entanglement over the whole network.

We experimentally study the breakdown of hyperfine coupling for an atom in a deep optical-dipole trap. One-color laser spectroscopy is performed at the resonance lines of a single 87Rb atom for a trap wavelength of 1064 nm. Evidence of hyperfine breakdown comes from three observations, namely, a nonlinear dependence of the transition frequencies on the trap intensity, a splitting of lines which are degenerate for small intensities, and the ability to drive transitions which would be forbidden by selection rules in the absence of hyperfine breakdown.