Spectroscopy and ionization dynamics of a dense ultracold Rydberg atom gas

Author

Estrin, A. ; Tong, D. ; Ensher, J.R. ; Cheng, C.-H. ; Gould, P.L. ; Eyler, E.E.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Phys., Connecticut Univ., Storrs, CT, USA

fYear

2001

fDate

11-11 May 2001

Firstpage

199

Abstract

Summary form only given. We describe measurements of high-resolution spectra and ionization dynamics in a strongly interacting gas of cold Rydberg atoms. Ground state /sup 85/Rb atoms are cooled to a few hundred /spl mu/K in a magneto-optical trap (MOT), and then excited to high Rydberg states by use of a pulse-amplified laser operating near 300 nm. The Rydberg atom density can be higher than 10/sup 10/ cm/sup -3/, depending on the laser power. The laser system produces nearly transform-limited pulses of 8 nsec duration, allowing spectral resolution of about 80 MHz.

Keywords

Rydberg states; laser cooling; magneto-optical effects; radiation pressure; rubidium; ultraviolet spectra; /sup 85/Rb; 300 nm; 8 ns; Rydberg atom density; cold Rydberg atoms; dense ultracold Rydberg atom gas; ground state /sup 85/Rb atoms; high-resolution spectra; ionization dynamics; laser power; laser system; magneto-optical trap; spectral resolution; spectroscopy; strongly interacting gas; transform-limited pulses; Atom lasers; Atomic beams; Atomic measurements; Gas lasers; Ionization; Laser excitation; Optical pulses; Power lasers; Spectroscopy; Stationary state;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference, 2001. QELS '01. Technical Digest. Summaries of Papers Presented at the

Conference_Location

Baltimore, MD, USA

Print_ISBN

1-55752-663-X

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/QELS.2001.962063

Filename

962063