Exploring the vibrational series of pure trilobite Rydberg molecules
Abstract In trilobite Rydberg molecules, an atom in the ground state is bound by electron-atom scattering to a Rydberg electron that is in a superposition of high angular momentum states. This results in a homonuclear molecule with a permanent electric dipole moment in the kilo-debye range. Trilobit...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43818-7 |
| _version_ | 1827590412377784320 |
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| author | Max Althön Markus Exner Richard Blättner Herwig Ott |
| author_facet | Max Althön Markus Exner Richard Blättner Herwig Ott |
| author_sort | Max Althön |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract In trilobite Rydberg molecules, an atom in the ground state is bound by electron-atom scattering to a Rydberg electron that is in a superposition of high angular momentum states. This results in a homonuclear molecule with a permanent electric dipole moment in the kilo-debye range. Trilobite molecules have previously been observed only with admixtures of low-l states. Here we report on the observation of two vibrational series of pure trilobite Rubidium-Rydberg molecules that are nearly equidistant. They are produced by three-photon photoassociation and lie energetically more than 15 GHz below the atomic 22F state of rubidium. We show that these states can be used to measure the electron-atom scattering length at low energies in order to benchmark current theoretical calculations. In addition to measuring their kilo-Debye dipole moments, we also show that the molecular lifetime is increased compared to the 22F state due to the high-l character. The observation of an equidistant series of vibrational states opens the way to observe coherent molecular wave packet dynamics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:16:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5340cd941bc1496fa72012e2665e9b49 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:16:30Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-5340cd941bc1496fa72012e2665e9b492023-12-10T12:25:25ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232023-12-011411710.1038/s41467-023-43818-7Exploring the vibrational series of pure trilobite Rydberg moleculesMax Althön0Markus Exner1Richard Blättner2Herwig Ott3Department of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS, Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-LandauDepartment of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS, Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-LandauDepartment of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS, Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-LandauDepartment of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS, Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-LandauAbstract In trilobite Rydberg molecules, an atom in the ground state is bound by electron-atom scattering to a Rydberg electron that is in a superposition of high angular momentum states. This results in a homonuclear molecule with a permanent electric dipole moment in the kilo-debye range. Trilobite molecules have previously been observed only with admixtures of low-l states. Here we report on the observation of two vibrational series of pure trilobite Rubidium-Rydberg molecules that are nearly equidistant. They are produced by three-photon photoassociation and lie energetically more than 15 GHz below the atomic 22F state of rubidium. We show that these states can be used to measure the electron-atom scattering length at low energies in order to benchmark current theoretical calculations. In addition to measuring their kilo-Debye dipole moments, we also show that the molecular lifetime is increased compared to the 22F state due to the high-l character. The observation of an equidistant series of vibrational states opens the way to observe coherent molecular wave packet dynamics.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43818-7 |
| spellingShingle | Max Althön Markus Exner Richard Blättner Herwig Ott Exploring the vibrational series of pure trilobite Rydberg molecules Nature Communications |
| title | Exploring the vibrational series of pure trilobite Rydberg molecules |
| title_full | Exploring the vibrational series of pure trilobite Rydberg molecules |
| title_fullStr | Exploring the vibrational series of pure trilobite Rydberg molecules |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring the vibrational series of pure trilobite Rydberg molecules |
| title_short | Exploring the vibrational series of pure trilobite Rydberg molecules |
| title_sort | exploring the vibrational series of pure trilobite rydberg molecules |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43818-7 |
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