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Laser Spectroscopy

STARK AND ZEEMAN DECELERATION OF NEUTRAL ATOMS AND MOLECULES

S. D. Hogan, E. Vliegen, Daniel Sprecher, Nicolas Vanhaecke, M. Andrist, Hansjürg Schmutz, U. MEIER, Beat H. Meier, Frédéric Merkt

Published Apr 1, 2008• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Argon and hydrogen atoms excited to Rydberg Stark states in supersonic expansions have been decelerated using inhomogeneous electric fields. In the case of hydrogen, the atoms have been decelerated from an initial velocity of 700 m/s to zero velocity in the lab frame using time-dependent inhomogeneous electric fields and subsequently stored in two- and three-dimensional traps. The dynamics of the Rydberg atoms in the traps and the phase-space characteristics of the decelerated atoms have been characterized by pulsed field ionization and imaging techniques. Multi-stage Zeeman deceleration of ground state H and D atoms has been demonstrated. Using this technique H atoms, traveling at 420 m/s, have been decelerated to half of their initial kinetic energy. © 2008 World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

DOI
10.1142/9789812813206_0013

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Physical Review Letters•Sep 14, 2009•104 citations
Argon and hydrogen atoms excited to Rydberg Stark states in supersonic expansions have been decelerated using inhomogeneous electric fields. In the case of hydrogen, the atoms have been decelerated from an initial velocity of 700 m/s to zero velocity in the lab frame using time-dependent inhomogeneous electric fields and subsequently stored in two- and three-dimensional traps. The dynamics of the Rydberg atoms in the traps and the phase-space characteristics of the decelerated atoms have been characterized by pulsed field ionization and imaging techniques. Multi-stage Zeeman deceleration of ground state H and D atoms has been demonstrated. Using this technique H atoms, traveling at 420 m/s, have been decelerated to half of their initial kinetic energy. © 2008 World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Hydrogen atoms in a cold supersonic expansion with an average velocity of 700 m s −1 have been excited to Rydberg Stark states with principal quantum number in the range n = 20–25 and subsequently decelerated and accelerated in time-independent inhomogeneous electric fields. Accelerations of up to 2 × 10 8 m s −2 have been achieved and the initial kinetic energy of atoms prepared in low (high)-field seeking Stark states could be more than quadrupled (halved) over a flight distance of only 3 mm and in a time of less than 5 µs. The control over the velocity of the Rydberg atoms is such that trapping can be envisaged.
Hydrogen atoms in supersonic expansions with velocities in the range from 700to800m∕s700\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{to}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}800\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{m}∕\mathrm{s}700to800m∕s have been excited to Rydberg-Stark states with principal quantum number nnn between 20 and 40, decelerated to zero velocity in the lab frame using time-dependent inhomogeneous electric fields, and trapped in a two-dimensional electrostatic trap with an initial density of $\ensuremath{\approx}5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{6}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$. The motion of the atomic cloud in the trap was observed by measuring the times of flight and images of the H+{\mathrm{H}}^{+}H+ ions produced by pulsed field ionization. The velocity distribution of the trapped atoms can be described by an effective temperature of 350mK350\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{mK}350mK. The decay of the population of trapped atoms does not follow a single-exponential behavior and has contributions from radiative and collisional processes.
The interaction between inhomogeneous electric fields and the large electric dipole moments of atoms and molecules in Rydberg states of high principal quantum number can be used to efficiently accelerate and decelerate atoms and molecules in the gas phase. We describe here how hydrogen atoms and molecules initially moving with velocities of ∼600 m/s in supersonic beams can be decelerated to zero velocity and loaded into electric traps. The long observation times that are made possible by the electrostatic trapping enables one to study slow relaxation processes. Experiments are presented in which we have observed photoionization processes and transitions between Rydberg states induced by blackbody radiation at temperatures between 10 K and 300 K on a time scale of several milliseconds. Comparison of these processes in Rydberg states of H and H(2) suggests the importance, in H(2), of collisional processes and of the process of blackbody-radiation-induced predissociation.
Argon atoms in a pulsed supersonic expansion are prepared in selected Stark components of Rydberg states with effective principal quantum number in the range n * = 15–25. When traversing regions of inhomogeneous electric fields, these atoms get accelerated or decelerated depending on whether the Stark states are low- or high-field seeking states. Using a compact electrode design, which enables the application of highly inhomogeneous and time-dependent electric fields, the Rydberg atoms experience kinetic energy changes of up to 1.2 × 10 −21 J (i.e. 60 cm −1 in spectroscopic units) in a single acceleration/deceleration stage of 3 mm length. The resulting differences in the velocities of the low- and high-field seeking states are large enough that the corresponding distributions of times of flight to the Rydberg particle detector are fully separated. As a result, efficient spectral searches of the Rydberg states best suited for acceleration/deceleration experiments are possible. Numerical simulations of the particle trajectories are used to analyse the time-of-flight distributions and to optimize the time dependence of the inhomogeneous electric fields. The decay of the Rydberg states by fluorescence, collisions and transitions induced by black-body radiation takes place on a timescale long enough not to interfere significantly with the deceleration during the first ∼5 µs.
Hydrogen molecules in selected core-nonpenetrating Rydberg-Stark states have been decelerated from a mean initial velocity of 500 m/s to zero velocity in the laboratory frame and loaded into a three-dimensional electrostatic trap. Trapping times, measured by pulsed electric field ionization of the trapped molecules, are found to be limited by collisional processes. As Rydberg states can be deexcited to the absolute ground state, the method can be applied to generate cold samples of a wide range of species.