Absolute frequency measurements of⁸⁵RbnF_7/2Rydberg states using purely optical detection

Abstract

Precision measurements of quantum defects in the Rydberg states of Rb B Sanguinetti, H O Majeed, M L Jones et al. -Frequency metrology in the near-infrared spectrum of H217O and H218O molecules: testing a new inversion method for retrieval of energy levels A Gambetta, E Fasci, A Castrillo et al. Abstract. A three-step laser excitation scheme is used to make absolute frequency measurements of highly excited nF 7/2 Rydberg states in 85 Rb for principal quantum numbers n = 33-100. This work demonstrates the first absolute frequency measurements of rubidium Rydberg levels using a purely optical detection scheme. The Rydberg states are excited in a heated Rb vapour cell and Doppler-free signals are detected via purely optical means. All of the frequency measurements are made using a wavemeter that is calibrated against a Global Positioning System (GPS)-disciplined self-referenced optical frequency comb. We find that the measured levels have a very high frequency stability, and are especially robust against electric fields. The apparatus has allowed measurements of the states to an accuracy of 8.0 MHz. The new measurements are analysed by extracting the modified Rydberg-Ritz series parameters.

Measurement of absolute transition frequencies ofRb87tonSandMack1, Karlewski2, Hattermann3 et al. 2011Phys. Rev. A1115981View full textAdd to dashboardCite

“…Higher accuracy measurements include the nF states of the 85 Rb isotope with an accuracy of 8 MHz [13] and on the nS levels of 85 Rb with an uncertainty greater than 6 MHz [14]. In the present work, we measure Rydberg transition frequencies of 87 Rb with an absolute accuracy of < ∼ 1 MHz, which results from frequency stabilizing the lasers employed for the spectroscopy to absolute frequency references.…”

Asymptotic approximations to the energy of dispersion interaction between rubidium atoms in Rydberg states

“…This regularity follows from the asymptotic nature of the interaction operator (3) and was observed already for ground-state hydrogen atoms [33] but for rather remote terms of s 30  in the series (14). It is important to note different signs in the right-hand sides of equations (15) and (16) for even-and oddorder sums of coefficients C n s N ( ) ( ) determining the resultant resolution (14) in powers of R 1 for the long-range interaction energy. This rule follows from the signs of the highest-order matrix elements in corresponding expressions of the perturbation theory (compare (7) and (10)).…”

“…Thus, at R ≈ R 0 the opposite-parity states of each atom may be mixed, creating the degenerate state with large permanent electric dipole moment similar to those produced with the use of electric and/or magnetic field [9]. Detailed analysis on the basis of the data for quantum defects of Rb Rydberg states detects the indicated type of degeneracy for 38P 3/2 , 39D 3/2 , 43D 5/2 and 58D 3/2 states [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. The energy of two atoms in these states is separated from the closest dipole-coupled two-atomic levels by an energy gap δ of only few Megahertz, at least two orders smaller than the separation on the order of Gigahertz from any other state.…”

Optical frequency synthesizer for precision spectroscopy of Rydberg states of Rb atoms

“…The high-resolution spectroscopy of Rydberg states is possible by observing the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) spectrum in an atomic vapor cell. [18][19][20][21][22][23] In previous reports, 22) these absolute transition frequencies of nS (n = 19-65) and nD (n = 19-57) 87 Rb Rydberg states were measured using a wavemeter and a comb with an uncertainty of less than 800 kHz. The direct frequency measurements of the nP and nF Rydberg states of 85 Rb have also been demonstrated using three laser frequencies, which are locked to the Rydberg transitions, and measured using a comb.…”