Rydberg-Rydberg Collisions: Resonant Enhancement of State Mixing and Penning Ionization

A. Reinhard, T. Cubel Liebisch, K. C. Younge, P. R. Berman, and G. Raithel
Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 123007 – Published 28 March 2008

Abstract

In rubidium Rydberg states, the collision nD5/2+nD5/2(n2)F7/2+(n+2)P3/2 is nearly resonant in the vicinity of n=43. As a result, over a short range of n centered around n43 the Rydberg-Rydberg interaction potential is quite large and turns from repulsive to attractive [Phys. Rev. A 75, 032712 (2007)]. We use state-selective field ionization to investigate the effect of this resonance on instantaneous excitation of mixed two-particle states, state-mixing collisions, and Penning ionization. We find that these processes depend on the magnitude and sign of the two-particle interaction potential, and thus on n near the resonance. The large magnitude of the observed state mixing provides evidence for many-body effects.

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  • Received 27 August 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.123007

©2008 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

A. Reinhard, T. Cubel Liebisch*, K. C. Younge, P. R. Berman, and G. Raithel

  • FOCUS Center and Michigan Center for Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA

  • *Present address: NIST Time and Frequency Division, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305, USA.

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Vol. 100, Iss. 12 — 28 March 2008

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