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Physical Review A

Effects of imperfect unipolarity on the ionization of Rydberg atoms by subpicosecond half-cycle pulses

N. E. Tielking, T. J. Bensky, R. R. Jones

Published Apr 1, 1995• 49 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Rydberg atoms are ionized by nearly unipolar, subpicosecond electromagnetic pulses. Deviations from a perfectly unidirectional pulse are found to alter substantially the ionization probability as a function of peak field. Quantitative agreement between classical theory and experiment is achieved if the pulse imperfections are significantly attenuated.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.51.3370

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AIP conference proceedings•Jan 1, 1995•1 citation
Rydberg atoms are ionized by nearly unipolar, subpicosecond electromagnetic pulses. Deviations from a perfectly unidirectional pulse are found to alter substantially the ionization probability as a function of peak field. Quantitative agreement between classical theory and experiment is achieved if the pulse imperfections are significantly attenuated.
Nearly unipolar, subpicosecond half-cycle pulses (HCPs) have been used to ionize Ba+{\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}Ba+ ngngng Rydberg ions. The double ionization probability vs HCP field strength data are compared with analogous single ionization measurements for neutral Ba 6snd6snd6snd Rydberg atoms prepared in the same apparatus. We find that neutral and ionic Rydberg states with the same binding energies follow approximately the same ionization curves. Our findings are in agreement with the predictions of an impulsive ionization model and classical trajectory Monte Carlo simulations.
We have ionized Rydberg atoms using subpicosecond half-cycle electromagnetic pulses. The threshold electric field required to ionize a Rydberg state with effective quantum number n∗{\mathit{n}}^{\mathrm{*}}n∗ is found to scale as ${\mathit{n}}^{\mathrm{*}\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}2}$ for states with n∗{\mathit{n}}^{\mathrm{*}}n∗>13 in contradistinction to the ${\mathit{n}}^{\mathrm{*}\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}4}$ threshold scaling for static field ionization and high order multiphoton ionization. This novel result is explained using a classical model.
Theoretical analysis of the recently observed ionization of Rydberg atoms by ultra-short half-cycle single-polarity electromagnetic pulses is presented. It is shown that the observations are consistent with the general classical scaling for the hydrogen atom in a microwave field, but the quantitative explanation of the results is possible only within the framework of quantum mechanics. In other words, the photonic basis approach for quantum dynamics and the multiphoton ionization theory yield the measured threshold fields. This is an example of classical scaling of a non-classical effect. 1.
The ionization of potassium np Rydberg atoms with n∼388n\sim388n∼388 by pulsed unidirectional electric fields, termed half-cycle pulses (HCPs), with various well-characterized shapes (rectangular, triangular, and sawtooth) and durations $T\sb{p}$ comparable to the classical electron orbital period $T\sb{n}$ is investigated. The experimental results are compared to classical trajectory Monte Carlo (CTMC) simulations and the classically-scaled results of quantum calculations undertaken at n=5.n=5.n=5. The data show that in the intermediate regime, $T\sb{p}\sim T\sb{n},$ the threshold field for ionization becomes sensitive to the shape and rise time of the HCP, increasing with increasing rise time. For each pulse shape, the agreement between the experimental measurements and both the CTMC and quantum calculations is very good.
We study the ionization of Rydberg atoms by half-cycle electromagnetic pulses as a function of the duration of the pulses covering a broad range of time intervals connecting the adiabatic and sudden regimes. The threshold fields for ionization lie on a universal classical scaling invariant curve. We present quantum mechanical results which agree well with the universal curve. The n -2 threshold field scaling found experimentally is a linear approximation to the universal curve by the tangent in the region where the pulse duration is of the order of the orbital period of the atom. We predict the existence of an ultrashort pulse limit in which the threshold field scales as n -1 . Effects due to the non-hydrogenic core are negligible.
A simple theory of the Rydberg atoms ionization by electromagnetic pulses and microwave field is presented. The analysis is based on the scale transformation which reduces the number of parameters and reveals the functional dependencies of the processes. It is shown that the observed ionization of Rydberg atoms by subpicosecond electromagnetic pulses scale classically. The threshold electric field required to ionise a Rydberg state may be simply evaluated in the photonic basis approach for the quantum dynamics or from the multiphoton ionization theory.