Osnabrück 2002 – scientific programme

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A: Atomphysik

A 9: Poster I

A 9.12: Poster

Wednesday, March 6, 2002, 11:00–13:00, Schloss

Ionization processes of cold rubidium atoms in high Rydberg states — •W. Lewoczko, I. Mistrik, H. Münz, and H. Helm — Fak. f. Physik, Univ.Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg

Ionization of Rb atoms excited to high-principal quantum number ns-, np-, and nd-Rydberg states is observed in a magneto-optical trap. The high principal quantum number states are excited by two photons from ground state rubidium in the presence of an electric field. Delayed ionization of the excited cold atom cloud is identified from the time-of-flight spectrum of Rb⁺ ions. This spectrum shows initially a hyperbolic decay of the ion flux with time. The frequency spectrum for excitation of delayed ionization is compared with the 2+1 REMPI spectrum. The two spectra emphasize different portions of the Stark map within each n -manifold. Pronounced maxima in the delayed ionization spectrum appear near n=33 and at the ionization threshold. We compare our results with those reported recently in similar setups [1,2]. Research supported by the DFG (SFB 276, TP C16).

[1] S. K. Dutta et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 3993 (2001).

[2] M. P. Robinson et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 4466 (2000).