Formation of fast Rydberg atom beams by ion-Rydberg collisions in a Rydberg atom target
A practical technique for producing fast neutral atom beams within a narrow range of highly-excited states was developed. An 11 keV sulfur ion beam was directed through a {open_quotes}target{close_quotes} consisting of a crossed thermal rubidium beam with a dense population of atoms excited to either the 8F or 10F state by CW lasers. Roughly 0.1% of the S{sup +} ions were neutralized in the target by ion-Rydberg charge-exchange collisions. Measurements of the total neutral flux of S atoms, as well as the flux of S atoms in particular states with n = 9 and 10 and L {ge} 4, demonstrated that at least 5% of the neutral S atoms formed in the n = 10 Rydberg target were in the n = 10 state. The apparatus for forming the Rydberg target are discussed in detail. The work included development of a thermal source of dense Rb beams and a numeric technique for simultaneously stabilizing the frequencies of three tuneable CW lasers. A model of the three-laser inhomogeneously-broadened excitation process was developed to understand the relationship between the total F-state population in the target and other physical parameters in the system. By use of an L-resolved Rydberg detection scheme, the flux of S atoms in the 9H, 9I, 9K, 9L, 10G, 10H, 10I, 10K, 10L, and 10M states were measured using both the 8F and 10F targets. The results provided a clear demonstration of a highly non-statistical L distribution for neutral atoms formed in the Rydberg target, and also showed that quite different distributions arise from the 8F and 10F targets. These results are compared with theoretical predictions for the n- and L-distributions.
- Research Organization:
- Notre Dame Univ., IN (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 106813
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: TH: Thesis (Ph.D.); PBD: 1993
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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