Spatial imaging of the movement of bound atoms to reveal the Rydberg molecular bond via electromagnetically induced transparency

Abstract

We propose an approach to detect individual Rydberg molecules, where each molecule consists of two atoms lying in different Rydberg states. The scheme exploits the different movements of atoms and molecules in the presence of external forces to differentiate atoms and molecules. The forces acting on the two atoms in the molecule are different. We consider the most ideal situation, that is, the external force is exerted only on one of the two Rydberg atoms in the molecule. The movement of Rydberg atoms that are not affected by the external force depends on whether they are bound to the Rydberg atoms affected by the force. Therefore, bound Rydberg atoms can be distinguished from free Rydberg atoms. By non-destructively resolving the locations of Rydberg atoms through detecting the absorption events with the probe field or the fluorescence signal, the scheme can be utilized to detect the positions of Rydberg molecules, and also the bond force in the Rydberg molecule.