DC Stark effect on cold Rydberg atom nD + nD pair collisions

Photoassociation of long-range nD Rydberg molecules.

We observe long-range homonuclear diatomic nD Rydberg molecules photoassociated out of an ultracold gas of Rb87 atoms for 34≤n≤40. The measured ground-state binding energies of Rb87(nD+5S1/2) molecular states are larger than those of their Rb87(nS+5S1/2) counterparts, which shows the dependence of the molecular bond on the angular momentum of the Rydberg atom. We exhibit the transition of Rb87(...

Enhancement of Rydberg atom interactions using ac Stark shifts.

The ac Stark effect was used to induce resonant energy transfer between translationally cold 85Rb Rydberg atoms. When a 28.5 GHz dressing field was set at specific field strengths, the two-atom dipole-dipole process 43d5/2+43d5/2-->45p3/2+41f was dramatically enhanced, due to induced degeneracy of the initial and final states. This method for enhancing interactions is complementary to dc electr...

L-changing Collisions in Cold Rydberg Gases

Using spectroscopic methods and time-resolved electron counting, it is found that clouds of cold Rydberg atoms can emit electrons over a surprisingly long time scale. Our observations are explained by l-mixing collisions between Rydberg atoms and slow electrons. The thereby created high-angular-momentum Rydberg atoms thermally ionize slowly and with large probabilities. Calculations supporting ...

SUBSECTION ON DENTISTRY (Nd).

Ion-Atom Cold Collisions and Atomic Clocks