Eur. Phys. J. D (2014) 68: 265
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2014-40605-x

Regular Article

State transfer of nS ultracold Rydberg atoms in external electric fields

State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics and Quantum Optics Devices, Institute of Laser Spectroscopy, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, P.R. China

^a e-mail: zhaojm@sxu.edu.cn

Received: 5 October 2013
Received in final form: 25 January 2014
Published online: 25 September 2014

Abstract

The state transfer from cesium nS (n = 45−53) states to Stark (product) states induced by a weak electric field (WEF) pulse was investigated using the state-selective field ionization method in a standard magneto-optic trap (MOT). The WEF pulse shifts the nS Rydberg states that anticross with the (n − 4) hydrogen-like manifolds, causing state transitions from the initial excited nS state to the Stark states. The mechanism of transfer was investigated by changing the rising and falling time of the WEF pulse and the switching off time of the external field pulse had an important role during the evolution process of product states. The population of the product states is also measured as a function of the principal quantum number and Rydberg densities.