Production of Rydberg Atoms

Thomas F. Gallagher

Charles E. Burkhardt, M. Ciocca, W. P. Garver +2 more

S. K. Kanungo, Roger Ding, J. D. Whalen +2 more

Brenton Knuffman, Georg A. Raithel

Rydberg-Rydberg collisions in a cold, dense Rydberg gas can lead to the conversion of internal energy into center-of-mass energy of the colliding atoms, resulting in Rydberg-atom velocities much larger than the initial velocities in the gas. We prepare cold Rydberg-atom gases by laser excitation of laser-cooled atom clouds and use time-of-flight measurements to demonstrate the production of fast Rydberg atoms. The velocity distributions of Rydberg atoms emerging from the Rydberg-atom gases are obtained. State-selective field ionization spectra indicate a correlation between the production of fast Rydberg atoms and the presence of Penning ionization signatures. The dependence of the yield of fast Rydberg atoms on Rydberg atom density is measured.

D. F. Gray, Z. Zheng, K. A. Smith +1 more

The ion production that results when K(nd) Rydberg atoms are incident at grazing incidence on a metal surface is investigated. The data show that such ion production forms the basis of a simple technique with which to detect Rydberg atoms, even at relatively low values of n, and suggest that Rydberg atoms may provide a novel means to investigate local electric fields present near a surface.

C. Wesdorp