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arXiv:1705.08345 · Physical Review A

Observation of the motional Stark shift in low magnetic fields

Manuel Kaiser, Jens Grimmel, Lara Torralbo-Campo, Markus Mack, Florian Karlewski, Florian Jessen, Nils Schopohl, József Fortágh

Published Oct 2, 2017• 2 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The Stark effect of Rb Rydberg atoms due to their center-of-mass motion in a weak homogeneous magnetic field is measured with a high-precision spectroscopic method. The knowledge of this effect can find a wide range of applications such as measuring magnetic fields in fusion plasma diagnostics, evaluating the hydrogen spectra in the vicinity of neutron stars, and exploring the magneto-Stark effect of excitons in solids.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.96.043401

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A Rydberg atom has a highly excited valence electron which is weakly bound and far from the nucleus. These atoms have exaggerated properties that make them attractive candidates for quantum computation and studies of fundamental quantum mechanics. The discrete energy levels of Rydberg atoms are shifted in the presence of an electric field by the Stark effect and are similarly shifted due to a magnetic field by the Zeeman effect. These effects couple the energy levels together, creating avoiding crossings. At these avoided crossings, an electron in one energy level can jump to the other. Our goal is to be able to use these avoided crossings to put the electron in a superposition state of both energy levels. In order to achieve this we created new software that enables us to calculate the energy levels of an electron in both a magnetic and an electric field. We present energy level maps visualizing the results of the Stark and Zeeman effects.

•Jan 1, 2017•0 citations
The Stark effect of Rb Rydberg atoms due to their center-of-mass motion in a weak homogeneous magnetic field is measured with a high-precision spectroscopic method. The knowledge of this effect can find a wide range of applications such as measuring magnetic fields in fusion plasma diagnostics, evaluating the hydrogen spectra in the vicinity of neutron stars, and exploring the magneto-Stark effect of excitons in solids.
We have observed transitions between Rydberg states of He with sub-Doppler resolution, using a novel technique. Ordinary Doppler line shapes, observed at low magnetic fields, are completely altered at high fields by the quadratic Stark effect induced by velocity-dependent electric fields arising from atomic motion transverse to the magnetic field. The high-field line shape has an abrupt cutoff, corresponding to ${v}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}\ensuremath{\simeq}0$ atoms, whose slope is primarily limited by the homogeneous linewidth.
In this work, numerical calculations were implemented based on the diagonalisation of a matrix representation of the Stark Hamiltonian on a subset of the basis given by the zero-field Hamiltonian. Dipole matrix elements between the involved states were calculated, which allow for the prediction of transition strengths to Stark shifted Rydberg states. The applicability of the numerical methods were confirmed experimentally by precision spectroscopy in a rubidium vapour cell with electrodes using electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). The numerical methods were then extended to predict ionisation rates of Rydberg states in the highly Stark shifted regime beyond the classical ionisation threshold. For this purpose, a complex absorbing potential (CAP) was specifically adjusted to the Stark Hamiltonian. An experiment was conducted, in which cold atoms from a magneto-optical trap (MOT) were excited to Stark shifted Rydberg states and the arising ions were detected. The obtained ionisation spectra agree well with the results from the numerical calculations. Another extension of the numerical methods was implemented for crossed electric and magnetic fields. This was used for approximate calculations of the motional Stark effect (MSE), which acts on atoms moving through static magnetic fields and thereby experiencing a Lorentz electric field. In a precision spectroscopy, once more using EIT in a vapour cell, the MSE was observed in low magnetic fields for the first time in rubidium. The spectral shift, which is caused by the MSE, matches the prediction from the numerical calculations. In a final experiment, the practical use of the knowledge of several properties of Stark shifted Rydberg states was illustrated. The numerical methods including the CAP were used to specifically select states for their optical accessibility, permanent electric dipole moments and ionisation rates. In the experiment, atoms from a MOT were excited to these states to observe different characteristics of the dipole blockade effect. The detection scheme for this experiment was realised by controlled ionisation using only small changes in the external electric field.
The high resolution two-photon spectroscopy of hydrogen is often limited by the second-order Doppler effect. To determine this effect, we apply a magnetic field perpendicular to the atomic beam. This field induces a quadratic motional Stark shift proportional, as the second-order Doppler effect, to v(2) (v atomic velocity). For some magnetic field, these two effects are opposite and the total shift due to the atomic velocity is reduced. We present the first observation of this effect for the 1S-3S transition in hydrogen.
With time-of-flight and electric field ionization detection technique, we investigate the motional Stark effect for highly excited Rydberg barium in high magnetic field and its active cancellation experimentally. In the experiment, the atom beam is aligned at a small angle of 15° with respect to the magnetic field. The motional Stark effect cancellation is demonstrated on two sets of circularly polarized spectra in static magnetic field B = 1.00000 Tesla and B = 1.70000 Tesla, respectively, although the effect is very small (~3.5 Vcm −1 ) in our apparatus configuration.
A Rydberg atom has a highly excited valence electron which is weakly bound and far from the nucleus. These atoms have exaggerated properties that make them attractive candidates for quantum computation and studies of fundamental quantum mechanics. The discrete energy levels of Rydberg atoms are shifted in the presence of an electric field by the Stark effect and are similarly shifted due to a magnetic field by the Zeeman effect. These effects couple the energy levels together, creating avoiding crossings. At these avoided crossings, an electron in one energy level can jump to the other. Our goal is to be able to use these avoided crossings to put the electron in a superposition state of both energy levels. In order to achieve this we created new software that enables us to calculate the energy levels of an electron in both a magnetic and an electric field. We present energy level maps visualizing the results of the Stark and Zeeman effects.