Hannover 2010 – scientific programme
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A: Fachverband Atomphysik
A 23: Poster II
A 23.51: Poster
Thursday, March 11, 2010, 16:30–19:00, Lichthof
Ultralong-range Rydberg Molecules: Investigation of a Novel Binding — •Björn Butscher1, Vera Bendkowsky1, Johannes Nipper1, Jonathan Balewski1, James P. Shaffer1,2, Robert Löw1, and Tilman Pfau1 — 15. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Germany — 2Homer L. Dodge Departement of Physics ans Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, USA
For highly excited Rydberg atoms, the scattering of the Rydberg electron from a nearby polarizable ground state atom can generate an attractive mean-field potential which is able to bind the ground state atom to the Rydberg atom within the Rydberg electron wave function at binding energies ranging from a few MHz to hundreds of MHz[1].
We present spectroscopic data on the observation of various bound states including the vibrational ground and excited states of rubidium dimers Rb(5S)-Rb(nS) as well as those of trimer states. Furthermore, we show calculations that reproduce the observered binding energies remarkably well and reveal that some of the excited states are purely bound by quantum reflexion at a shape resonance for p-wave scattering.
To further charcterize the molecular states, we determine lifetimes and stark spectra of these molecules, which allow us to gain insight into the rotational structure of these molecules.
[1] V. Bendkowsky et. al., Nature 458, 1005 (2009)