Confinement of high- and low-field-seeking Rydberg atoms using time-varying inhomogeneous electric fields

Abstract

Helium atoms in high- and low-field-seeking Rydberg states with linear and quadratic Stark shifts have been confined in two dimensions and guided over a distance of 150 mm using time-varying inhomogeneous electric fields. This was achieved with an electrode structure composed of four parallel cylindrical rods to which voltages were applied to form oscillating and rotating saddle-point fields. These two modes of operation result in time-averaged pseudopotentials that confine samples in high- and low-field-seeking states about the axis of the device. The experimental data have been compared to the results of numerical particle trajectory calculations that include effects of blackbody radiation and electric field ionization. The results highlight important contributions from single-photon blackbody-induced transitions that cause large changes in the principal quantum number of the Rydberg atoms.