Hannover 2016 – scientific programme

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A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 28: Ultracold plasmas and Rydberg systems (with Q)

A 28.5: Poster

Wednesday, March 2, 2016, 16:30–19:00, Empore Lichthof

Rydberg P-state-molecules — •Tanita Eichert¹, Philipp Geppert¹, Thomas Niederprüm¹, Oliver Thomas^1,2, Torsten Manthey¹, and Herwig Ott¹ — ¹Department of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany — ²Graduate School Materials Science in Mainz, Gottlieb-Daimler-Strasse 47, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany

We report on the experimental realization of P-state Rydberg-molecules. These molecules are created by photoassociation in a dense sample of ultracold rubidium. High resolution spectroscopy is carried out over a range of more than 10 GHz allowing us to precisely determine the binding energies of molecular states around the 25P state. By characterizing the observed molecular states by their permanent dipole moments and their lifetimes we can distinguish between pure long range Rydberg molecules and bound states in the vicinity of the crossing butterfly state. Rydberg molecules show significantly shortened lifetimes compared to resonant Rydberg excitations caused by the bound ground state atom. Furthermore we demonstrate how the obtained knowledge on the bound states can be used to probe the site occupancy in optical lattices.

Additionally we report on a laser system that will be used to excite Rydberg S- and D-states in ultracold rubidium gases. For this purpose, two external cavity diode lasers for both 420 nm and 1030 nm have been assembled. Due to small linewidths and without the necessity of second harmonic generation, we achieve a high spectroscopic resolution and efficient excitation with increased stability.