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Physical Review Letters

Diffraction of Rydberg atoms by laser light

G. Alber

Published Nov 23, 1992• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

It is shown that semiclassical path representations provide a well-suited framework for the description of the diffraction of Rydberg atoms by laser light. They allow one to relate the momentum exchange between the atomic center-of-mass motion and the laser field directly to elementary laser-assisted collisions between the excited Rydberg electron and the ionic core. Thus besides a convenient calculational tool they provide also direct physical insight into the underlying internal dynamics of the Rydberg atoms.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.69.3045

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It is shown that semiclassical path representations provide a well-suited framework for the description of the diffraction of Rydberg atoms by laser light. They allow one to relate the momentum exchange between the atomic center-of-mass motion and the laser field directly to elementary laser-assisted collisions between the excited Rydberg electron and the ionic core. Thus besides a convenient calculational tool they provide also direct physical insight into the underlying internal dynamics of the Rydberg atoms.
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.
In isolated-core excited Rydberg systems the destruction of quantum coherence by spontaneous emission of photons is investigated. For this purpose a theoretical description is developed which is based on a decomposition of the atomic density operator into N-photon contributions. Using methods from multichannel quantum defect theory, the relevant atomic transition amplitudes are represented in the form of semiclassical path representations which are associated with repeated returns of the Rydberg electron to the ionic core. Apart from numerical advantages, this approach also yields a clear physical picture of the intricate interplay between the incoherent photon emission process, the coherent laser-modified electron correlation effects, and the semiclassical aspects of the dynamics of the Rydberg electron. Various examples of this interplay are analyzed within the framework of the developed theoretical tools. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
The formation of atom-optical gratings induced by multiphoton excitation of Rydberg states is discussed for fast atoms. With the help of semiclassical path-integral methods the correlation between the dynamics of a laser-excited Rydberg electron and the momentum transferred to the atomic center of mass in a spatially modulated laser field is exhibited quantitatively. These types of laser excitation processes might offer new perspectives for the realization of atomic multiple beam splitters and for atom-lithographic applications.
The influence of laser-induced two-electron excitation processes on the deflection of atoms by a standing-wave laser field is investigated. In particular, isolated-core excitation processes are studied in which, after preparing one valence electron as an electronic Rydberg wave packet, the core electron is driven resonantly by the standing wave. The dynamics of the two electrons are entangled through laser-induced electron correlation effects. A theoretical approach is developed that clearly exhibits the intricate interplay between these correlation effects and the atomic center-of-mass motion that originates from the stimulated light force. Various examples are analyzed that show the manifestations of this interplay in the diffraction pattern of a deflected atom.
We develop a theory describing laser excitation of a Rydberg series by an intense laser field. Our theory is based on the fact that the radiative coupling is restricted to a region around the atomic nucleus (the reaction zone) which is small in comparison with the extent of the excited Rydberg states. The physical processes inside the reaction zone are characterized by a few parameters which are slowly varying functions of energy across the Rydberg threshold. This finite range of the radiative coupling allows us to apply methods from quantum-defect theory and to treat the laser interaction with the Rydberg series and the adjoining electron continuum as a whole. Within this approach we derive analytical expressions for transition probabilities as a function of time in either a dressed-state representation which is appropriate as long as only a few Rydberg states are excited or a multiple-scattering expansion which is particularly suited for a description of the excitation process close to threshold. The physical picture emerging in this limit is one of a radial electronic wave packet which is generated within the reaction zone and moves in the Coulomb potential of the ionic core. Every time it returns to the inner turning point of its orbit, i.e., to the reaction zone, it is either deexcited back to the initial atomic state or is scattered by the ionic core.