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Physical Review Letters

Quantum Electrodynamic Shifts of Rydberg Energy Levels between Parallel Metal Plates

Michele Marrocco, M. Weidinger, Robert T. Sang, HERBERT WALTHER

Published Dec 28, 1998• 49 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The energy level shifts of Rydberg atoms in confined space were investigated by passing the atoms between two parallel metal plates. The shifts were measured by Doppler-free two-photon absorption in combination with the two-field Ramsey method. Radiative shifts induced by blackbody photons could be observed. At very low temperatures, the shift was determined being on the order of 100 Hz.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.81.5784

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The energy level shifts of Rydberg atoms in confined space were investigated by passing the atoms between two parallel metal plates. The shifts were measured by Doppler-free two-photon absorption in combination with the two-field Ramsey method. Radiative shifts induced by blackbody photons could be observed. At very low temperatures, the shift was determined being on the order of 100 Hz.
We study the level shifts and depopulation of Rydberg states, confined between two parallel metallic plates, due to blackbody radiation. After the derivation of the formal equations for the level shift and the depopulation, we present, as an example, specific calculations for the Rb 24s24s24s state as a function of plate distance LLL at three different temperatures 10, 85, and 205 K.
We consider the Zeeman shift in Rydberg atoms induced by room-temperature blackbody radiation (BBR). BBR shifts to the Rydberg levels are dominated by the familiar BBR Stark shift. However, the BBR Stark shift and the BBR Zeeman shift exhibit different behaviors with respect to the principal quantum number of the Rydberg electron. Namely, the BBR Stark shift asymptotically approaches a constant value given by a universal expression, whereas the BBR Zeeman shift grows steeply with principal quantum number due to the diamagnetic contribution. We show that for transitions between Rydberg states, where only the differential shift between levels is of concern, the BBR Zeeman shift can surpass the BBR Stark shift. We exemplify this in the context of a proposed experiment targeting a precise determination of the Rydberg constant.
Blackbody radiation is expected to produce a temperature-dependent Stark shift in atomic Rydberg states. Unfortunately, in "one-electron" atoms, all the Rydberg levels experience the same shift, and the effect is only observable on an optical transition from the ground state. However, in a many-electron atom the presence of valence-state perturbers leads to unequal shifts of the Rydberg levels. This should make it possible to observe the frequency shift of a transition between two neighboring Rydberg states at a frequency in the radio-frequency range. This eliminates the need for a very stable visible laser, which so far has been the major technical obstacle to the observation and utilization of the effect. We present as an example a specific case in Ba.
We have excited helium atoms from their metastable 2 3S{}^{3}\phantom{\rule{-0.16em}{0ex}}S3S state to Rydberg states in the range 13<n<5013<n<5013<n<50 in a two-step process via the 3 3P{}^{3}\phantom{\rule{-0.16em}{0ex}}P3P state using light at $\ensuremath{\lambda}=389$ nm and 785--815 nm. Atoms in a thermal beam (100 K) cross partially overlapping laser beams of the appropriate frequencies in the counterintuitive order to exploit the high efficiency of stimulated rapid adiabatic passage. The interaction region is between two plates that can be used for Stark tuning in a few V/cm field or for field ionization. At fields much too low for field ionization, we observe signals attributed to ionization by blackbody radiation. Multiple tests confirm this attribution as the cause of ionization. For example, by heating the plates we observe the expected signal increases. Our experiments reinforce previous work where the interaction between Rydberg atoms and room temperature blackbody radiation is important for experiments.
Helium atoms in high- and low-field-seeking Rydberg states with linear and quadratic Stark shifts have been confined in two dimensions and guided over a distance of 150 mm using time-varying inhomogeneous electric fields. This was achieved with an electrode structure composed of four parallel cylindrical rods to which voltages were applied to form oscillating and rotating saddle-point fields. These two modes of operation result in time-averaged pseudopotentials that confine samples in high- and low-field-seeking states about the axis of the device. The experimental data have been compared to the results of numerical particle trajectory calculations that include effects of blackbody radiation and electric field ionization. The results highlight important contributions from single-photon blackbody-induced transitions that cause large changes in the principal quantum number of the Rydberg atoms.