Bonn 2025 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 27: Poster – Ultra-cold Atoms, Ions and BEC (joint session A/Q)

Q 27.25: Poster

Dienstag, 11. März 2025, 14:00–16:00, Tent

A High-Resolution Ion Microscope to Spatially Observe Ion-Rydberg Interactions — •Jennifer Krauter, Viraatt Anasuri, Óscar Andrey Herrera-Sancho, Moritz Berngruber, Florian Meinert, Robert Löw, and Tilman Pfau — 5. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany

Here, we present the findings of our recent studies on ion-Rydberg atom interactions conducted in the ultracold quantum regime using a high-resolution ion microscope. This experimental apparatus offers temporal and spatial imaging of charged particles with a resolution of up to 200 nm. Systems combining ions and Rydberg atoms offer various interesting phenomena for research. Already simple ion-Rydberg atom pair states allow for the observation of collisional dynamics on steep attractive potential energy curves featuring multiple avoided crossings with adjacent states. Those can lead to a drastic speed-up of the collision process. Avoided crossings can also give rise to bound molecular states by forming potential wells. These bound states between an ion and a Rydberg atom feature huge bond lengths of several micrometers, enabling the direct observation of vibrational dynamics. Further, this binding mechanism is not limited to diatomic molecules but can be extended to polyatomic molecules, for which we expect interactions that are even more complex. In particular, for a bound state between two Rydberg atoms and one ion, we predict a rich interaction potential that comprises the interaction between induced dipoles, ion-Rydberg atom interactions, and the Rydberg blockade effect.

Keywords: Rydberg; Ion Rydberg collisions; Ion microscope; Ion Rydberg molecule