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Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

Steering Rydberg wave packets using a chirped train of half-cycle pulses

S. Yoshida, Carlos O Reinhold, Emil Persson, Joachim Burgdörfer, F. B. Dunning

Published Jan 6, 2005• 17 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present protocols for steering a Rydberg wave packet towards a preferred region in phase space using a train of half-cycle pulses. Developing such protocols is aided by classical phase space portraits. The classical phase space changes its structure as the frequency and the strength of a train of pulses are modulated. The quantum wave packet can be made to follow such a change. The movement of the wave packet can thus be controlled by a proper modulation of the perturbation. In addition, this technique can be used to create a focused wave packet or to transfer it from one island to another associated with a different quasi-periodic motion.

DOI
10.1088/0953-4075/38/2/016

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We present protocols for steering a Rydberg wave packet towards a preferred region in phase space using a train of half-cycle pulses. Developing such protocols is aided by classical phase space portraits. The classical phase space changes its structure as the frequency and the strength of a train of pulses are modulated. The quantum wave packet can be made to follow such a change. The movement of the wave packet can thus be controlled by a proper modulation of the perturbation. In addition, this technique can be used to create a focused wave packet or to transfer it from one island to another associated with a different quasi-periodic motion.
A protocol for steering Rydberg electrons towards targeted final states is realized with the aid of a chirped train of half-cycle pulses (HCPs). Its novel capabilities are demonstrated experimentally by transporting potassium atoms excited to the lowest-lying quasi-one-dimensional states in the n(i)=350 Stark manifold to a narrow range of much higher-n states. We demonstrate that this coherent state transfer is, to a high degree, reversible. The protocol allows for remarkable selectivity and is highly efficient, with typically over 80% of the parent atoms surviving the HCP sequence.
The ability to localize and to steer Rydberg wave packets in phase space using tailored sequences of half-cycle pulses is demonstrated. Classical phase-space portraits are used to explain the method and to illustrate the level of control that can be achieved. This is confirmed experimentally by positioning a phase-space-localized wave packet at the center of a stable island or navigating it around its periphery. This work provides a valuable starting point for further engineering of electronic wave functions.
A technique for generating Rydberg wavepackets in preferred target states is demonstrated that exploits the mixed phase space structure of the periodically `kicked' Rydberg atom. Experimental data and classical simulations for very-high- n Rydberg atoms are presented that show that application of a train of equispaced, unidirectional half-cycle pulses can lead to localization of the final wavepacket in classical stable islands. The product wavepackets are examined using a delayed half-cycle probe pulse. It is demonstrated that the motion of the wavepackets is either quasiperiodic or random depending on whether or not the initial state of the atom overlaps a stable island.
Rydberg wave packets generated by a single half-cycle pulse (HCP) interacting with a stationary Rydberg state periodically localize within a narrow region in both momentum and coordinate space (i.e., phase space). This property is the key to shaping and manipulating wave packets. We investigate the dependence of this transient localization and focusing on the principal quantum number n and on the strength of the ultrashort HCP (``kick strength,'' $\ensuremath{\Delta}p).$ It is shown that the localization in momentum space of the wave packet, quantified by the momentum width, obeys a universal scaling rule which is controlled by an effective Planck constant ${\ensuremath{\Elzxh}}_{\mathrm{eff}}.$ Maximum focusing is reached in the classical limit $({\ensuremath{\Elzxh}}_{\mathrm{eff}}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0).$
We discuss a protocol for efficient and quick transfer of population between nearly one-dimensional Rydberg states by a chirped train of half-cycle pulses. The chirp refers both to the time interval and relative strength between subsequent pulses. The most spectacular result obtained by the use of this protocol is the transfer of over 10% of the initial population from the high-Rydberg state of n=50,80n=50,80n=50,80 to much lower ones of ${n}^{\ensuremath{'}}\ensuremath{\approx}10$ in a short time of the order of 1 ns.
We demonstrate the use of a periodic train of half-cycle pulses to maintain strongly-localized wave packets in very-high-nnn $(n\ensuremath{\sim}300)$ Rydberg atoms that travel in near-circular orbits about the nucleus. This motion can be followed for hundreds of orbital periods and mimics the original Bohr model of the hydrogen atom which envisioned an electron in circular classical orbit about the nucleus.