Ionization of Rydberg atoms by standing-wave light fields

Sarah Elizabeth Anderson, Georg A. Raithel

Jingzhong Guo, E. Arimondo

We present a calculation of cooling of Rydberg atoms in bichromatic standing light waves. The atoms in our model are assumed to have a cascade three-level transition scheme, with the second excited level being the Rydberg state. The cooling fields, which also excite the atoms to the Rydberg state, consist of two standing waves whose frequencies are tuned near the two transition frequencies of the cascade atomic system. It is shown that the mechanisms of Sisyphus cooling and velocity-selective coherent population trapping can co-exist in such a configuration, and under certain conditions the majority of the laser-cooled atoms are in the Rydberg state.

G. M. Lankhuijzen, Lambertus D. Noordam

G. Alber, Walter T. Strunz, O. Zobay

The momentum exchange between a standing wave laser field and an atomic center-of-mass is dominated by the internal dynamics of an atomic electron in the exciting laser field. Rydberg atoms are one of the simplest physical systems where the dependence of this radiative force on the electronic dynamics can be investigated in detail. The characteristics of the momentum transfer between an atomic center-of-mass and a standing wave laser field strongly depend on whether the “particle” or the “wave” aspect of the electronic dynamics prevail. In this review recent theoretical advances in the description of the mechanical action of laser light on Rydberg atoms are discussed. These advances have become possible by the application of semiclassical path integral techniques with respect to the electronic dynamics which clearly exhibit the “particle” and “wave” aspects of this momentum transfer.

D. Tong, S. M. Farooqi, S. Krishnan +7 more

Yu Pu, Barry F. Dunning