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arXiv:1904.07628 · Molecular Physics

Fluorescence-lifetime-limited trapping of Rydberg helium atoms on a chip

Valentina Zhelyazkova, M. Žeško*, Hansjürg Schmutz, Josef A. Agner, Frédéric Merkt

Published Apr 5, 2019• 19 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Metastable (1s)(2s) 3S1 helium atoms produced in a supersonic beam were excited to Rydberg-Stark states (with n in the 27–30 range) in a cryogenic environment and subsequently decelerated by, and trapped above, a surface-electrode decelerator. In the trapping experiments, the Rydberg atoms were brought to rest in 75 μs and over a distance of 33 mm and kept stationary for times ttrap in the 0–525 μs range, before being re-accelerated for detection by pulsed field ionisation. The use of a home-built valve producing short gas pulses with a duration of about 20 μs enabled the reduction of losses arising from collisions with atoms in the trailing part of the gas pulses. Cooling the decelerator to 4.7 K further suppressed losses by transitions induced by blackbody radiation and by collisions with atoms desorbing from the decelerator surface. The main contribution (60%) to the atom loss during deceleration is attributed to the escape out of the decelerator moving traps of atoms having energies higher than the trap saddle point, spontaneous emission and collisions with atoms in the trailing part of the gas pulses causing each only about 20% of the atom loss. At 4.7 K, the atom losses in the trapping phase of the experiments were found to be almost exclusively caused by spontaneous emission and the trap lifetimes were found to correspond to the natural lifetimes of the Rydberg-Stark states. Increasing the temperature to 100 K enhanced the trap losses by transitions stimulated by blackbody radiation.

DOI
10.1080/00268976.2019.1600060

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Metastable (1s)(2s) 3S1 helium atoms produced in a supersonic beam were excited to Rydberg-Stark states (with n in the 27–30 range) in a cryogenic environment and subsequently decelerated by, and trapped above, a surface-electrode decelerator. In the trapping experiments, the Rydberg atoms were brought to rest in 75 μs and over a distance of 33 mm and kept stationary for times ttrap in the 0–525 μs range, before being re-accelerated for detection by pulsed field ionisation. The use of a home-built valve producing short gas pulses with a duration of about 20 μs enabled the reduction of losses arising from collisions with atoms in the trailing part of the gas pulses. Cooling the decelerator to 4.7 K further suppressed losses by transitions induced by blackbody radiation and by collisions with atoms desorbing from the decelerator surface. The main contribution (60%) to the atom loss during deceleration is attributed to the escape out of the decelerator moving traps of atoms having energies higher than the trap saddle point, spontaneous emission and collisions with atoms in the trailing part of the gas pulses causing each only about 20% of the atom loss. At 4.7 K, the atom losses in the trapping phase of the experiments were found to be almost exclusively caused by spontaneous emission and the trap lifetimes were found to correspond to the natural lifetimes of the Rydberg-Stark states. Increasing the temperature to 100 K enhanced the trap losses by transitions stimulated by blackbody radiation.
A surface-electrode decelerator consisting of 44 electrodes has been used to decelerate supersonic beams of helium Rydberg atoms moving with an initial velocity of 1200 m/s. Prior to the deceleration, the helium atoms were excited from the 1s2s1S01s2s{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{1}{S}_{0}1s2s1S0​ metastable state to selected Rydberg-Stark states with a narrow-band tunable UV laser. Complete deceleration could be achieved over a distance of 36 mm and in 60 $\ensuremath{\mu}$s, corresponding to an acceleration of $\ensuremath{-}2.0\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{7}$ m/s2{}^{2}2. After deceleration, the atoms were held in stationary electric traps above the chip surface, reaccelerated off the chip, and detected by pulsed electric-field ionization. The decelerator was also used to generate helium Rydberg-atom beams with a final velocity tunable between 0 and 1200 m/s. Transitions between low- and high-field-seeking Rydberg-Stark states were observed during trap loading and are attributed to adiabatic Landau-Zener dynamics at electric fields exceeding the Inglis-Teller field. By comparing the experimental results with the results of particle-trajectory simulations, the velocity distribution of the decelerated atoms was found to be characterized by temperatures ranging between 50 and 200 mK, depending on the magnitude of the electric dipole moment of the Rydberg-Stark states selected prior to the deceleration.
The experimental realisation of a set of surface-based devices for controlling the positions and velocities of Rydberg atoms initially travelling in pulsed supersonic beams is described. The unique aspect of these devices is that they are based on the geometry of two-dimensional electrical transmission-lines and are therefore suited to integration with chip-based microwave circuits to realise a complete Rydberg laboratory on a chip. Such a chip-based laboratory could be exploited in hybrid approaches to quantum information processing, and for studies of collisions and decay processes of highly excited atoms and molecules. The devices operate through the generation of inhomogeneous electric fields and take advantage of the large electric dipole moments associated with high Rydberg states to exert forces on the atoms. In the experiments, helium atoms in Rydberg-Stark states with principal quantum numbers ranging from 48 to 52 and electric dipole moments of 10000 D are employed. The devices developed include electrostatic guides which permitted control over the transverse motion of beams of atoms. These were used to transport samples, initially travelling at 1950 m/s and deflect them away from their initial axis of propagation. The guided atoms were detected by pulsed electric field ionisation. To control the longitudinal motion of the samples, the transmission-lines were modified to permit the generation of sets of continuously moving electric traps. The resulting transmission-line decelerators were then employed to guide, accelerate and decelerate atoms trapped in three-dimensions. Accelerations up to 2.3 x 10^{7} m/s^{2} were applied to decelerate samples from 2000 m/s to zero-velocity in the laboratory-fixed frame of reference, leading to the removal of 80 meV of kinetic energy, the largest achieved in any Stark decelerator to date. The decelerated atoms were trapped in stationary electric traps and detected in situ. The phase-space acceptances of the decelerators were calculated to characterise the effects of acceleration and deceleration on the trapped atoms. The results of the calculations were employed in the interpretation of the experimental data, and to identify effects of collisions and blackbody transitions.
Nitric oxide (NO) molecules initially traveling at 795 m/s in pulsed supersonic beams have been photoexcited to long-lived hydrogenic Rydberg-Stark states, decelerated and electrostatically trapped in a cryogenically cooled, chip-based transmission-line Rydberg-Stark decelerator. The decelerated and trapped molecules were detected in situ by pulsed electric field ionization. The operation of the decelerator was validated by comparison of the experimental data with the results of numerical calculations of particle trajectories. Studies of the decay of the trapped molecules on timescales up to 1 ms provide new insights into the lifetimes of, and effects of blackbody radiation on, Rydberg states of NO.
Hydrogen and deuterium Rydberg atoms, initially moving at velocities of 600 and 560 m s −1 , respectively, in pulsed supersonic beams, have been decelerated and electrostatically trapped following adiabatic 90° deflection from their initial axis of propagation to minimize collisions with the trailing edge of the gas pulses. The time evolution of the potential energy surfaces, over which the atoms undergoing deceleration travel during the trap-loading process, is analogous to that of a moving electrodynamic trap. It has been studied in the laboratory-fixed frame of reference and in the continuously moving frame of reference defined by the instantaneous position of the electric-field minimum around which the atoms are located. The importance of the quadratic Stark effect in the deceleration of samples in Rydberg states with principal quantum numbers above 35 has also been investigated by comparison of experimental results with predictions resulting from the numerical calculation of particle trajectories. The data presented for deuterium atoms represent the first application of Rydberg–Stark deceleration and trapping for this atom. Comparison of the rate of loss of n = 30 H and D atoms from the trap enables one to conclude that it is not affected by the particle dynamics during deceleration and trap loading.
Abstract Beams of helium atoms in Rydberg–Stark states with principal quantum number n = 48 and electric dipole moments of 4600 D have been decelerated from a mean initial longitudinal speed of 2000 m s −1 to zero velocity in the laboratory-fixed frame-of-reference in the continuously moving electric traps of a transmission-line decelerator. In this process accelerations up to m s −2 were applied, and changes in kinetic energy of J ( meV) per atom were achieved. Guided and decelerated atoms, and those confined in stationary electrostatic traps, were detected in situ by pulsed electric field ionisation. The results of numerical calculations of particle trajectories within the decelerator have been used to characterise the observed deceleration efficiencies, and aid in the interpretation of the experimental data.