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Physical Review A

Chirped-pulse multiphoton transitions between Rydberg states

C. W. S. Conover, Matthew P. Doogue, Friedrich Struwe

Published Feb 26, 2002• 22 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Rydberg atoms in a static electric field provide an experimental system with which many aspects of strong atom-field interactions can be tested. We report measurements of multiphoton transitions in Rydberg states of potassium driven by chirped pulses of rf radiation. Pulses of rf are produced with frequencies swept from 675 to 825 MHz at rates from 0.25 MHz/ns to 7.5 MHz/ns. We present measurements of population transfer in a two-level system as a function of rf field strength and sweep rate. The data is analyzed with a dynamical Floquet model using Landau-Zener transition probabilities; this model accurately describes these transitions.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.65.033414

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Rydberg atoms in a static electric field provide an experimental system with which many aspects of strong atom-field interactions can be tested. We report measurements of multiphoton transitions in Rydberg states of potassium driven by chirped pulses of rf radiation. Pulses of rf are produced with frequencies swept from 675 to 825 MHz at rates from 0.25 MHz/ns to 7.5 MHz/ns. We present measurements of population transfer in a two-level system as a function of rf field strength and sweep rate. The data is analyzed with a dynamical Floquet model using Landau-Zener transition probabilities; this model accurately describes these transitions.
When exposed to intense light of \ensuremath{\sim}580 nm, the ground state of K shifts up in energy, passing through two photon resonances with Rydberg states, and finally crossing the two-photon ionization limit. We have used laser pulses of varying duration to study the nature of the population transfer from the ground state to the excited state due to the intensity-tuned resonances encountered during the rising edge of the pulse. A dynamic Floquet approach in which the resonances are treated as avoided crossings of the Floquet energy levels is used to model the population transfer and gives excellent agreement with the data. The model is extended into the strong-coupling regime where the ground state interacts with many excited states simultaneously, and we show that this model can be used to describe multiphoton ionization as a series of avoided crossings with the continuum.
Using the time-dependent multilevel approach, we have calculated the coherent population transfer between the quantum states of potassium atom by a single frequency-chirped laser pulse. The result shows that a pair of sequential 'broadband' frequency-chirped laser pulses can efficiently transfer population from the initial state of the ladder system to the target state. It is also found that the population can be efficiently transferred to a target state and trapped there by using an 'intuitive' or a 'counterintuitive' frequency sweep laser pulse in the case of 'narrowband' frequency-chirped laser pulse. Our research shows that the complete population transfer is related to the pulse duration, chirp rate, and amplitude of the laser pulse.
The response of highly excited potassium Rydberg states with nnn $\ensuremath{\sim}305$ to a sinusoidal electric drive field in the radio frequency (100--300 MHz) regime is examined by photoexcitation from the 4s4s4s ground state using a uv probe beam. The drive field couples many Rydberg levels simultaneously and results in a coherent response that leads to a variety of multiphoton processes. The excitation spectra are analyzed within the framework of Floquet theory and reveal signatures of quantum optical phenomena such as electromagnetically induced transparency and Autler-Townes splitting seen with few-level systems.
By using the B -spline expansion technique and a model potential of the alkali atoms, the properties of frequency-modulated excitation of Rydberg potassium atoms in a static electric field and a microwave field are investigated by using the time-dependent two-level approach. We successfully reproduce the square wave oscillations in the low frequency, the stair step population oscillations in the intermediate frequency, and the multiphoton transitions in the high frequency with respect to the unmodulated Rabi frequency, which have been observed experimentally by Noel et al. [ Phys. Rev. A 58 2265 (1998) ]. Furthermore, we also numerically obtain the discretized Rabi oscillations predicted in the Landau—Zener accumulation model.
We observe microwave multiphoton transitions in Rydberg states of Na using intense subnanosecond half-cycle electric field pulses in a microwave transmission line. Transition probabilities from ns and nd states, ranging in principal quantum number from 18 to 40, to nearby nl (l\ensuremath{\geqslant}2) states are measured both as a function of pulse amplitude and the delay between two identical temporally spaced pulses. The transition rate depends strongly on both the pulse amplitude and the temporal delay between the two pulses. Nearly 100% of the population can be transferred for certain amplitudes of the half-cycle pulse. Transition probabilities are successfully described both with a dynamic Stark model and direct numerical integration of the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation. Ramsey interference between two delayed pulses is observed that shows strong-field behavior. The two-pulse experiment is a technique for high-order multiphoton spectroscopy without concern for ac Stark shifts.
We demonstrate that Rydberg atoms can be transferred to states of lower principal quantum number by exposing them to a frequency chirped microwave pulse. Specifically, we have transferred n=75n=75n=75 atoms to n=66n=66n=66 with a 400-ns pulse chirped from 7.8 to 11.8 GHz. In spite of the large number of coupled levels, using a simplified model we can describe the process reasonably well as a sequence of adiabatic rapid passages.