Imaging a chain of strongly correlated Rydberg excitations enabled by F\"{o}rster-resonance-enhanced interaction

Abstract

Rydberg atoms are currently a very fast advancing quantum platform. For many interesting and demanding applications, including quantum computation, fast detection of a Rydberg excitation or a Rydberg qubit for information readout would be one of the most desirable developments. We demonstrate single-shot and \textit{in situ} absorption imaging of individual Rydberg excitations. This level of resolution is achieved using an electromagnetically induced transparency scheme involving a Rydberg energy level that is highly sensitive to the presence of Rydberg atoms due to F\"{o}rster-resonance-enhanced dipole couplings. Spectroscopic measurements illustrate the existence of the F\"{o}rster resonance and underscore the state-selectivity of the technique. With an imaging exposure time as short as 3 $\mu$s, we successfully resolve linear chains of Rydberg excitations in a one-dimensional configuration. The extracted second-order correlation shows strong anti-bunching due to excitation blockade, and a Fourier analysis reveals the long-range order in the chains of Rydberg excitations. This imaging technique, with minimal destruction, will be of great interest for leveraging ensemble-encoded qubits in quantum computation and quantum simulation applications.