English

Single-color two-photon spectroscopy of Rydberg states in electric fields

Atomic Physics 2014-12-10 v1

Abstract

Rydberg states of atomic helium with principal quantum numbers ranging from n=20 to n=100 have been prepared by non-resonance-enhanced single-color two-photon excitation from the metastable 2 {^3}S{_1} state. Photoexcitation was carried out using linearly and circularly polarized pulsed laser radiation. In the case of excitation with circularly polarized radiation, Rydberg states with azimuthal quantum number |m_{\ell}|=2 were prepared in zero electric field, and in homogeneous electric fields oriented parallel to the propagation axis of the laser radiation. In sufficiently strong electric fields, individual Rydberg-Stark states were resolved spectroscopically, highlighting the suitability of non-resonance-enhanced multiphoton excitation schemes for the preparation of long-lived high-|m_{\ell}| hydrogenic Rydberg states for deceleration and trapping experiments. Applications of similar schemes for Doppler-free excitation of positronium atoms to Rydberg states are also discussed.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1412.3043,
  title  = {Single-color two-photon spectroscopy of Rydberg states in electric fields},
  author = {T. E. Wall and D. B. Cassidy and S. D. Hogan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1412.3043},
  year   = {2014}
}