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Physical Review A

Narrow resonances in Rydberg hydrogen spectroscopy

Ryan Bullis, W. L. Tavis, M. R. Weiss, D. C. Yost

Published Nov 18, 2024• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present the recovery of six $2{S}_{1/2}\text{\ensuremath{-}}n{S}_{1/2}$ two-photon resonances in atomic hydrogen with $8\ensuremath{\le}n\ensuremath{\le}16$. For each transition, we obtain quality factors $\ensuremath{\ge}4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{9}$, which we believe are the highest obtained in hydrogen laser spectroscopy excepting the singular $1{S}_{1/2}\text{\ensuremath{-}}2{S}_{1/2}$ two-photon transition. To the best of our knowledge, the transitions with $n\ensuremath{\ge}13$ have not been previously observed. These results are enabled by a tightly constrained atomic beam geometry, and by mitigation of the light shift caused by the spectroscopy laser field.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.110.052807

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We have observed the 1S—3S and 1S—3D Doppler-free two-photon transitions in atomic hydrogen using a powerful narrow-band tunable light source at 205 nm. The excitation is monitored by looking at the fluorescent light emitted on the Balmer α transition. By this method we have been able to detect atomic hydrogen and atomic deuterium at low density (around 107-108 at/cm3). One of the possible applications of this method is the search of superheavy hydrogen atoms. These atoms composed of a heavy proton and an electron are predicted by some supersymmetry theories.1 Because of their important mass shift, they should be easily distinguishable from hydrogen, deuterium, or tritium. Using a preliminary centrifugation, we believe that we can improve the present limit (~10−15) on the abundance of these superheavy atoms.
Rydberg states of atomic helium with principal quantum numbers ranging from n=20n=20n=20 to n=100n=100n=100 have been prepared by non-resonance-enhanced single-color two-photon excitation from the metastable 23S12\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}{{}^{3}S}_{1}23S1​ state. Photoexcitation was carried out using linearly and circularly polarized pulsed laser radiation. In the case of excitation with circularly polarized radiation, Rydberg states with azimuthal quantum number $|{m}_{\ensuremath{\ell}}|=2$ were prepared in zero electric field and in homogeneous electric fields oriented parallel to the propagation axis of the laser radiation. In sufficiently strong electric fields, individual Rydberg--Stark states were resolved spectroscopically, highlighting the suitability of non-resonance-enhanced multiphoton excitation schemes for the preparation of long-lived high-$|{m}_{\ensuremath{\ell}}|$ hydrogenic Rydberg states for deceleration and trapping experiments. Applications of similar schemes for Doppler-free excitation of positronium atoms to Rydberg states are also discussed.
This paper reports a theoretical treatment of the line shape for two-photon transitions. The time-dependent perturbation-theory treatment is equally appropriate for a fast atomic beam interacting with a microwave field in a waveguide, and for laser excitation of a thermal beam. Two important features of the physical systems are successfully incorporated into the theory. First, the amplitude of the external field to which the atoms are exposed varies in time; the envelope function affects the resonance linewidth and power shift. Second, the theory includes the natural decay of the atomic states; the decay amplitude produces a novel "lifetime shift," which displaces the two-photon resonance from its expected location, even in the limit of weak external fields. This paper gives detailed predictions for shifts and other distortions caused by nonidealities of the experimental apparatus used for the measurement of the $3^{2}S_{\frac{1}{2}}\ensuremath{-}3^{2}D_{\frac{5}{2}}$ transition in atomic hydrogen.
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The authors report the observation of the 1S-2S two-photon transition in atomic hydrogen in an atomic beam, excited by light from a narrow-band continuous-wave laser. The excitation takes place in a collision-free environment and detection of the resonance is carried out by Stark-quenching the metastable atoms some distance from the interaction region. This approach removes the limitations of cell excitation employed in previous experiments with continuous-wave lasers, and should allow the full precision of modern tunable laser techniques to be applied to the 1S-2S transition. It also gives a new method for producing a collimated beam of metastable atoms which has particular applications to a variety of future experiments with cold hydrogen.
The Stark splitting of the second excited level of atomic hydrogen (with principal quantum number n=3n=3n=3) has been measured by pulsed laser spectroscopy in order to determine small electric fields by optical means. Doppler-free excitation with two counterpropagating laser beams at 205nm205\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}205nm allows us to measure the n=3n=3n=3 Stark spectra either by an optogalvanic signal after ionization by a third laser photon or by detection of the Balmer-$\ensuremath{\alpha}$ fluorescence photons emitted by the excited atoms. Three different cases of laser polarization have been investigated in order to evaluate the possibilities and limitations of this one-step laser excitation method for electric field determination, especially at field strengths below 200V∕cm200\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{V}∕\mathrm{cm}200V∕cm. The method provides the best field sensitivity achieved with lower excited levels that can be reached directly by two-photon absorption from the ground state (in contrast to the more sensitive Rydberg levels). For this purpose, an advanced tunable pulsed uv laser with narrow bandwidth almost at the Fourier limit has been used. The high spectral resolution allowed us to deduce electric field strengths as small as 50V∕cm50\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{V}∕\mathrm{cm}50V∕cm from the frequency shift between two selected isolated Stark components. As a main advantage, this simple analysis of the measured spectra does not rely on knowledge of the line intensities which may be strongly affected by the measuring conditions.