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Physical Review A

Field ionization of Rydberg atoms for high-brightness electron and ion beams

A. J. McCulloch, Rory W. Speirs, Jens Grimmel, Ben M. Sparkes, D. Comparat, Robert E Scholten

Published Jun 28, 2017• 17 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present an ionization mechanism for use in a cold atom electron source with the goal of producing highly monochromatic electron beams. We experimentally produce a map of the Stark states of $^{85}\mathrm{Rb}$ below the ionization threshold and identify states that undergo selective field ionization. The properties of an electron beam produced by field-assisted ionization of such states are quantified. A theoretical framework is established to predict the improvement to beam quality when ionization is conducted above the ionization threshold, where ionization conditions are typically more favorable than below the threshold. Calculations suggest that selective ionization of Rydberg states may offer a pathway to the production of high-brightness, highly monochromatic ion and electron beams.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.95.063845

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We present an ionization mechanism for use in a cold atom electron source with the goal of producing highly monochromatic electron beams. We experimentally produce a map of the Stark states of 85Rb^{85}\mathrm{Rb}85Rb below the ionization threshold and identify states that undergo selective field ionization. The properties of an electron beam produced by field-assisted ionization of such states are quantified. A theoretical framework is established to predict the improvement to beam quality when ionization is conducted above the ionization threshold, where ionization conditions are typically more favorable than below the threshold. Calculations suggest that selective ionization of Rydberg states may offer a pathway to the production of high-brightness, highly monochromatic ion and electron beams.
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The energy spread of a focused ion beam causes chromatic aberration that limits the focal spot size and resolution for imaging and fabrication. Ion beams based on photoionization of neutral atoms can have a much smaller energy spread and higher brightness than conventional liquid metal ion sources and are thus capable of higher resolution. We present a method for using selective ionization of Rydberg atoms to reduce the beam energy spread in a cold-atom focused ion beam. We produce experimental maps of the ionization rate of 85Rb^{85}\mathrm{Rb}85Rb near the classical ionization threshold, predict the energy spread of an ion beam produced from these states, and demonstrate energy spread reduction in situ in a focused ion beam. We use a novel method to measure the energy spread from images, using only components present in many commercial focused ion beam systems. We choose two states to illustrate the technique and show a 50% difference in energy spread, with opportunities to further reduce the energy spread by constructing a more favorable electric field gradient and finding atomic states with better ionization characteristics.
We propose a source for high-brightness ion and electron beams based on the ionization of an effusive atomic beam which is transversely laser cooled and compressed. The very low transverse temperature (mK range) and the relative low density of the starting atomic sample ensure excellent initial conditions for obtaining bright and monochromatic charge sources. In contrast to the standard photoionization techniques used by similar sources, we utilize field ionization of Rydberg atoms. This approach allows a substantial reduction of the required laser power and copes differently with the problems of the energy spread created during the ionization process and of the stochastic space-charge effect. Theoretical modeling and prospective ideas of this emerging technology are given.
We study the excitation and ionization of cesium Rydberg states in an electric field ($\ensuremath{\approx}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}2200\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}\mathrm{V}/\mathrm{cm}$) near the classical field-ionization threshold ($\ensuremath{\approx}\ensuremath{-}280\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ binding energy) by three-dimensional (3D) ion-electron coincidence spectroscopy. Cesium atoms are produced by an effusive oven and excited with lasers to Stark-shifted Rydberg states or directly ionized. Using a double time-of-flight setup we record 3D (X,YX, YX,Y, time of flight) coincidence imaging of electrons and ions. Above-threshold photoionization creates broad images with poor electron-ion spatial correlation. Fast ionizing states produce very good correlations and the images reveal the electric-field map of the ionization region. Slow ionizing states show that the relatively high atomic velocity is detrimental to the correlations. Experimental data are accurately reproduced by detailed Monte Carlo excitation and ionization simulations based on Stark maps obtained with local-frame transformation (LFT) theory. Agreement between our spectroscopic experiment and LFT theory is very good, with better that hundreds of megahertz accuracy. But, on rare particular states, several gigahertz discrepancy is found. This study can be used to select appropriate states for the creation of ion and electron beams with high brightness, good correlation, and low energy dispersion.
Rydberg atoms, i.e. atoms with one or more highly excited electrons, show exaggerated properties compared to ground state atoms. For example, their energy levels are very sensitive to external electric fields (Stark effect) and they exhibit strong interatomic interactions, which can lead to a suppression of excitation known as the Rydberg blockade. The latter property makes Rydberg atoms promising candidates for quantum simulation and quantum computing. This work describes the direct observation of the excitation blockade for highly Stark-shifted Rydberg atoms induced by controllable dipole-dipole interactions. We investigate the electric field region around and above the classical ionization threshold, which is typically not considered suitable for blockade experiments. We excite Rydberg atoms in the energy region corresponding to the unperturbed 43S1/2 state at electric fields around 127V/cm out of a magneto-optically trapped cloud of 87Rb atoms with a temperature of 150 μK. We tune the dipole-dipole interaction by the applied electric field thus changing the electric dipole moment of the excited state. The position of the Rydberg atoms is detected by ionization and subsequent ion imaging; the controlled ionization of the atoms is achieved by adiabatic transfer of the Rydberg state to an ionizing state. For the spatially resolved detection of the atoms, a high resolution ion microscope for cold atoms has been developed and experimentally characterized. It features a maximum magnification of 1000 and sub-micrometer spatial resolution. A theoretical treatment of highly Stark-shifted Rydberg states is developed introducing a complex absorbing potential. It is capable of predicting the ionization rates of the Rydberg states for a wide range of electric fields and energies with only one free parameter. Together with the numerical calculations, measurements of the ionization spectra for different Rydberg states are presented. The 43S1/2 state is measured in an electric-field range from 125V/cm to 165V/cm (classical ionization limit 127V/cm), the 70S1/2 state in an electric-field range from 15V/cm to 35V/cm (classical ionization limit 16.1V/cm) and the 100S1/2 state in an electric-field range from 7V/cm to 19V/cm (classical ionization limit 3.7V/cm). Our results show an intricate energy level structure with broad, strongly ionizing states as well as sharp, nearly non-ionizing states. The numerical calculations are also used for the prediction of selective field ionization spectra and the results are used to identify Förster resonances in the Stark spectrum of the 45D5/2 state. Complementary to the spatially resolved measurements in high electric fields, the Rydberg blockade effect is also observed via the excitation number statistics at Förster resonances.
We implement high-efficiency coherent excitation to a Rydberg state using stimulated Raman adiabatic passage in a cold-atom electron and ion source. We achieve an efficiency of 60% averaged over the laser excitation volume with a peak efficiency of 82%, a 1.6 times improvement relative to incoherent pulsed-laser excitation. Using pulsed electric field ionization of the Rydberg atoms we create electron bunches with durations of 250 ps. High-efficiency excitation will increase source brightness, crucial for ultrafast electron diffraction experiments, and coherent excitation to high-lying Rydberg states could allow for the reduction of internal bunch heating and the creation of a high-speed single-ion source.