Trap losses induced by Rydberg dressing of cold atomic gases

The near-resonant dressing of ultracold strontium gases and BECs contained in an optical dipole trap (ODT) with the $n=30\;^3S_1$ Rydberg state is investigated as a function of the effective two-photon Rabi frequency, detuning, and dressing time. The measurements demonstrate that, even when well detuned from resonance, such dressing can lead to a rapid decrease in the ground-state atom population in the ODT. This decrease is attributed to Rydberg atom excitation which can lead to direct escape from the trap and/or population of very-long-lived metastable states. The large Rydberg atom production rates are explained using a reaction model in which the initial excitation of a Rydberg atom triggers the excitation of neighboring atoms leading to rapid avalanche-like growth in the Rydberg population.