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Bulletin of the American Physical Society

Fast Rydberg beam formation by n-selective charge transfer in a Rydberg atom target

F. J. Deck, Eric A. Hessels, S. R. Lundeen

Published May 1, 1993• 0 citations
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Abstract

An 11 keV S{sup +} is neutralized in a Rb thermal beam, excited by three CW lasers to the 10F{sub 7/2} (or 8F{sub 7/2}) state, to form fast S(nL) atoms in a narrow range of n near that of the target. Population of specific 9L and 10L, states is studied by excitation and Stark ionization with a CO{sub 2} laser. The operation of the Rydberg target and the characteristics of the resulting Rydberg beam will be discussed, and possible applications of this technique will be described.

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arXiv:1603.01430•Physical Review A•May 20, 2016•32 citations
An 11 keV S{sup +} is neutralized in a Rb thermal beam, excited by three CW lasers to the 10F{sub 7/2} (or 8F{sub 7/2}) state, to form fast S(nL) atoms in a narrow range of n near that of the target. Population of specific 9L and 10L, states is studied by excitation and Stark ionization with a CO{sub 2} laser. The operation of the Rydberg target and the characteristics of the resulting Rydberg beam will be discussed, and possible applications of this technique will be described.
A fast beam of sulfur Rydberg atoms is formed by charge exchange from an 11-keV beam of S+{\mathrm{S}}^{+}S+ ions in a crossed thermal rubidium beam, laser-excited to the 10F or 8F levels. Population of specific n=9,10 sulfur Rydberg levels is studied by selective excitation with a Doppler-tuned CO2{\mathrm{CO}}_{2}CO2​ laser followed by field ionization. Complete spectral resolution of levels with L\ensuremath{\ge}4 allows a direct study of the populations in specific nL levels and reveals distinctly nonstatistical distributions of population in L. The results are compared with predictions of a classical Monte Carlo three-body collision theory, revealing some similarities, but also clear differences.
New experimental results have been obtained in collisions of singly charged ions with Na Rydberg atoms. (a) The distribution of final n states populated by electron capture shows non-monotonic variations of width with incident energy over the range 60-2100 eV. (b) The total capture cross section for alkali ions on Rydberg targets shows peaks and dips over the same energy range, correlated with particular reduced velocities v and the polarization of the exciting laser. (c) {ell}-Changing collision of Na{sup +} on Na(nd) targets, n=26 and 28, at low v preferentially transfer multiple units {h_bar} of orbital angular momentum under single-collision conditions, despite very large impact parameters. (d) Inelastic impacts of Na{sup f+} on Na 36s and 30p states, perturbed by electric fields, populate a strongly field-dependent mixture of nearby Stark levels. A synopsis of recent progress will be given.
Electron-transfer processes are studied in thermal collisions of Rydberg atoms with alkaline-earth Ca(4s 2), Sr(5s 2), and Ba(6s 2) atoms capable of forming negative ions with a weakly bound outermost p-electron. We consider the ion-pair formation and resonant quenching of highly excited atomic states caused by transitions between Rydberg covalent and ionic terms of a quasi-molecule produced in collisions of particles. The contributions of these reaction channels to the total depopulation cross section of Rydberg states of Rb(nl) and Ne(nl) atoms as functions of the principal quantum number n are compared for selectively excited nl-levels with l ≪ n and for states with large orbital quantum numbers l = n − 1, n − 2. It is shown that the contribution from resonant quenching dominates at small values of n, and the ion-pair formation process begins to dominate with increasing n. The values and positions of the maxima of cross sections for both processes strongly depend on the electron affinity of an alkaline-earth atom and on the orbital angular momentum l of a highly excited atom. It is shown that in the case of Rydberg atoms in states with large l ∼ n − 1, the rate constants of ion-pair formation and collisional quenching are considerably lower than those for nl-levels with l ≪ n.
Thermal collisions between laser excited Xe(nf) Rydberg atoms and a variety of neutral atomic and molecular targets have been investigated. In Xe(nf)-HF collisions, n-changing, 4-changing and collisional ionization were observed. For n = 26 and 27, absolute collisional cross sections for these processes have been determined using time-resolved selective field ionization. In addition, the first evidence of molecular rotational excitation through the transfer of energy of electronic excitation from a Rydberg atom is presented. In Xe(nf) - Xe, Kr, Ar, CO2, CO and N2 collisions the dominant mechanism was observed to be 4-changing: no evidence of n-changing or collisional ionization was apparent. Absolute collisional cross sections have been determined for a range of n between 24 and 37. Comparison of these cross sections with those obtained using a theoretical model in which effects due to the Rydberg core are ignored appears to lead to satisfactory results only for Xe, Kr and CO2, whereas when core effects are included satisfactory agreement between experiment and theory is found in all cases.
Predicted 20 years ago, positron binding to neutral atoms has not yet been observed experimentally. A scheme is proposed to detect positron-atom bound states by colliding Rydberg positronium (Ps) with neutral atoms. Estimates of the charge-transfer reaction cross section are obtained using the first Born approximation for a selection of neutral atom targets and a wide range of incident Ps energies and principal quantum numbers. We also estimate the corresponding Ps ionization cross section. The accuracy of the calculations is tested by comparison with earlier predictions for charge transfer in Ps collisions with hydrogen and antihydrogen. We describe an existing Rydberg Ps beam suitable for producing positron-atom bound states and estimate signal rates based on the calculated cross sections and realistic experimental parameters. We conclude that the proposed methodology is capable of producing such states and of testing theoretical predictions of their binding energies.