Hannover 2010 – scientific programme
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A: Fachverband Atomphysik
A 19: Ultra-Cold Plasmas and Rydberg System
A 19.5: Talk
Thursday, March 11, 2010, 11:45–12:00, B 302
High resolution spectra of ultralong-range Rydberg molecules — •Johannes Nipper1, Vera Bendkowsky1, Björn Butscher1, Jonathan Balewski1, James P. Shaffer2, Robert Löw1, and Tilman Pfau1 — 15. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Germany — 2Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, USA
Ultralong-range Rydberg molecules are bound states of a Rydberg atom with ground state atoms. The binding mechanism relies solely on local Rydberg electron scattering off the perturbing ground state atom, described by a Fermi-like pseudo potential. The bound states show binding length up to 100nm and binding energies of several MHz [1].
We report on experiments showing high resolution spectra of the molecular ground state and vibrationally excited states of the dimers as well as trimer states. The binding energies are reproduced in great precision by a full solution of the electron-atom interaction. While the vibrational ground state is bound by pure s-wave scattering, the binding mechanism for the excited states arises from quantum reflections off a deep potential well due to a p-wave resonance inside the Rydberg electron wavefunction.
Furthermore experiments in electrical fields show a splitting of the molecular line, indication for a rotational substructure of the molecular ground state.
[1] V. Bendkowsky et al., Nature 458, 1005 (2009)