Abstract
Inhomogeneous electric fields generated above two-dimensional electrode structures have been used to transversely split beams of helium Rydberg atoms into pairs of spatially separated components. The atomic beams had initial longitudinal speeds of between 1700 and 2000 m/s and were prepared in Rydberg states with principle quantum number and electric dipole moments of up to 8700 D by resonance-enhanced two-color two-photon laser excitation from the metastable level. Upon exiting the beam splitter the ensembles of Rydberg atoms were separated by up to 15.6 mm and were detected by pulsed electric field ionization. Effects of amplitude modulation of the electric fields of the beam splitter were shown to cause particle losses through transitions into unconfined Rydberg-Stark states.
- Received 14 March 2017
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.95.053413
©2017 American Physical Society