No Arabic abstract
Pulsed field ionization of high-$n$ (90 $leq n leq$ 150) manifold states in Rb Rydberg atoms has been investigated in high slew-rate regime. Two peaks in the field ionization spectra were systematically observed for the investigated $n$ region, where the field values at the lower peak do not almost depend on the excitation energy in the manifold, while those at the higher peak increase with increasing excitation energy. The fraction of the higher peak component to the total ionization signals increases with increasing $n$, exceeding 80% at $n$ = 147. Characteristic behavior of the peak component and the comparison with theoretical predictions indicate that the higher peak component is due to the tunneling process. The obtained results show for the first time that the tunneling process plays increasingly the dominant role at such highly excited nonhydrogenic Rydberg atoms.
We have developed a quite stringent method in selectivity to ionize the low angular- momentum ($ell$) states which lie below and above the adjacent manifold in highly excited Rb Rydberg atoms. The method fully exploits the pulsed field-ionization characteristics of the manifold states in high slew-rate regime: Specifically the low $ell$ state below (above) the adjacent manifold is firstly transferred to the lowest (highest) state in the manifold via the adiabatic transition at the first avoided crossing in low slew-rate regime, and then the atoms are driven to a high electric field for ionization in high slew-rate regime. These extreme states of the manifold are ionized at quite different fields due to the tunneling process, resulting in thus the stringent selectivity. Two manipulation schemes to realize this method actually are demonstrated here experimentally.
We have studied an ionization of alkali-metal Rydberg atoms by blackbody radiation (BBR). The results of the theoretical calculations of ionization rates of Li, Na, K, Rb and Cs Rydberg atoms are presented. Calculations have been performed for nS, nP and nD states which are commonly used in a variety of experiments, at principal quantum numbers n=8-65 and at the three ambient temperatures of 77, 300 and 600 K. A peculiarity of our calculations is that we take into account the contributions of BBR-induced redistribution of population between Rydberg states prior to photoionization and field ionization by extraction electric field pulses. The obtained results show that these phenomena affect both the magnitude of measured ionization rates and shapes of their dependences on n. A Cooper minimum for BBR-induced transitions between bound Rydberg states of Li has been found. The calculated ionization rates are compared with our earlier measurements of BBR-induced ionization rates of Na nS and nD Rydberg states with n=8-20 at 300 K. A good agreement for all states except nS with n>15 is observed. Useful analytical formulas for quick estimation of BBR ionization rates of Rydberg atoms are presented. Application of BBR-induced ionization signal to measurements of collisional ionization rates is demonstrated.
We optically excite $^{85}$Rb atoms in a heated vapor cell to a low-lying Rydberg state 10D$_{5/2}$ and observe directional terahertz (THz) beams at 3.3 THz and 7.8 THz. These THz fields are generated by amplified spontaneous emission from the 10D$_{5/2}$ state to the 11P$_{3/2}$ and 8F$_{7/2}$ states, respectively. In addition, we observe ultraviolet (UV) light produced by four-wave mixing of optical pump lasers and the 3.3 THz field. We characterize the generated THz power over the detuning and power of pump lasers, and identify experimental conditions favoring THz and UV generation, respectively. Our scheme paves a new pathway towards generating high-power narrow-band THz radiation.
We analyze how bound-state excitation, electron exchange and the residual binding potential influence above-threshold ionization (ATI) in Helium prepared in an excited $p$ state, oriented parallel and perpendicular to a linearly polarized mid-IR field. Using ab initio B-spline Algebraic Diagrammatic Construction (ADC), and several one-electron methods with effective potentials, including the Schrodinger solver Qprop, modifi
When a strong laser pulse induces the ionization of an atom, momentum conservation dictates that the absorbed photons transfer their momentum $p_{gamma}=E_{gamma}/c$ to the electron and its parent ion. Even after 30 years of studying strong-field ionization, the sharing of the photon momentum between the two particles and its underlying mechanism are still under debate in theory. Corresponding experiments are very challenging due to the extremely small photon momentum ($~10^{-4}$ a.u.) and their precision has been too limited, so far, to ultimately resolve the debate. Here, by utilizing a novel experimental approach of two counter-propagating laser pulses, we present a detailed study on the effects of the photon momentum in strong-field ionization. The high precision and self-referencing of the method allows to unambiguously demonstrate the action of the lights magnetic field on the electron while it is under the tunnel barrier, confirming theoretical predictions, disproving others. Our results deepen the understanding of, for example, molecular imaging and time-resolved photoelectron holography.