Measurement of rapidly varying electric fields through parity oscillations in the Rydberg states of hydrogenic atoms

Journal Article · Sun Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1996 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.117180· OSTI ID:397408

Shafer-Ray, N E ^[1]; Zare, R N ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019 (United States)
2. Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 (United States)

Oscillations are shown to exist in the inversion symmetry of the electronic wave function of a hydrogenic atom coherently excited to a Rydberg state by a short pulse of laser radiation in a uniform electric field. The dependence of these oscillations on field strength is shown to scale as {ital n}{sup 2} where {ital n} is the principal quantum number. The possibility of using these oscillations to measure electric signals on picosecond timescales (terahertz frequencies) is suggested. {copyright} {ital 1996 American Institute of Physics.}

• OSTI ID: 397408
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 69, Issue 24; Other Information: PBD: Dec 1996
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
HYDROGEN
RYDBERG STATES
ELECTRIC FIELDS
OSCILLATIONS
WAVE FUNCTIONS
RADIATION DETECTION
STARK EFFECT
MEASURING METHODS
PS RANGE