https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-020-00013-3
Regular Article - Atomic Physics
Induced THz transitions in Rydberg caesium atoms for application in antihydrogen experiments
1
Laboratoire Aimé Cotton, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, 91405, Orsay, France
2
Institute of Solid State Physics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tzarigradsko Chaussée Blvd., 1784, Sofia, Bulgaria
3
Physics Department, CERN, 1211, Geneva 23, Switzerland
4
Advanced Research Center for Nano-lithography (ARCNL), Science Park 106, 1098 XG, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Received:
6
July
2020
Accepted:
2
November
2020
Published online:
21
January
2021
Antihydrogen atoms are produced at CERN in highly excited Rydberg states. However, precision measurements require anti-atoms in ground state. Whereas experiments currently rely on spontaneous emission only, simulations have shown that THz light can be used to stimulate the decay towards ground state and thus increase the number of anti-atoms available for measurements. We review different possibilities at hand to generate light in the THz range required for the purpose of stimulated deexcitation. We demonstrate the effect of a blackbody type light source, which however presents drawbacks for this application including strong photoionization. Further, we report on the first THz transitions in a beam of Rydberg caesium atoms induced by photomixers and conclude with the implications of the results for the antihydrogen case.
E. Dimova: Deceased September 08, 2020
© The Author(s) 2021
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