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Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

How to build experimentally a non-spreading wavepacket

Jakub Zakrzewski, Dominique Delande

Published Jan 28, 1997• 12 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We show, by an exact numerical simulation, how to prepare a non-spreading electronic wavepacket in Rydberg atoms, using the nonlinear interaction of the Rydberg electron with a circularly polarized microwave field. The wavepacket can be prepared by a mixed diabatic/adiabatic switching on of the microwave field, which is studied in detail for realistic conditions.

DOI
10.1088/0953-4075/30/2/010

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Fortschritte der Physik•May 1, 2002•2 citations
We show, by an exact numerical simulation, how to prepare a non-spreading electronic wavepacket in Rydberg atoms, using the nonlinear interaction of the Rydberg electron with a circularly polarized microwave field. The wavepacket can be prepared by a mixed diabatic/adiabatic switching on of the microwave field, which is studied in detail for realistic conditions.
We describe an experimental method of producing circular Rydberg states using a circularly polarized microwave field. A Na sss state is excited in the circularly polarized microwave field, and as the field is turned off, it makes an adiabatic rapid passage through a multiphoton resonance and evolves adiabatically into the circular state. Minimal optical selectivity is required and the field can be turned off quickly.
A classical study of the dynamics of atomic Rydberg states interacting with both elliptically and circularly polarized microwave fields is presented. In recent experiments, enhanced ionization rates were observed in elliptically as opposed to circularly polarized fields. A classical phase-space simulation provides good qualitative agreement with experimental findings. These results are explained in terms of the breakdown of almost conserved quantities as the polarization of the field is changed from circular to elliptical.
We report the first observation of the ionization of Rydberg atoms by a circularly polarized 8.5-GHz microwave field. The observed threshold field for ionization is E=1/16n4{\mathrm{n}}^{4}n4, a value higher than that required for ionization by a linearly polarized microwave field. The origin of this threshold can be understood by transforming to a frame rotating at the microwave frequency. In the rotating frame no transitions occur, and level mixings alone are responsible for the ionization.
This article demonstrates that coherent states in Rydberg atoms can be produced and stabilized by combining a circularly polarized microwave field with a static, perpendicular magnetic field. These electronic wavepackets owe their stability to atomic analogs of the Lagrange equilibria which confine Jupiter's Trojan asteroids. While these “Trojan” wavepackets may slowly decay due to tunneling, a more significant source of dispersion will arise if the tails of the wavepacket penetrate appreciably into the non-linear or chaotic parts of phase space. In the laboratory frame, if these dispersive factors can be minimized — and this may be accomplished using magnetic fields — the electronic wavepacket will travel along a circular Kepler orbit while remaining localized radially and angularly for a finite — but large — number of Kepler periods. In this sense, the system is a classical Bohr atom.