Measurement of the electric dipole moments for transitions to rubidium Rydberg states via Autler-Townes splitting

TL;DR

This paper reports the first systematic measurement of electric dipole moments for rubidium Rydberg state transitions using Autler-Townes splitting, demonstrating a reliable and versatile method applicable to other atoms and transitions.

Contribution

It introduces a straightforward, adaptable experimental technique for measuring electric dipole moments in Rydberg transitions, validated by agreement with theoretical predictions.

Findings

First systematic measurement of rubidium Rydberg transition dipole moments.

Method shows good agreement with theoretical calculations.

Technique is easily extendable to other atomic species.

Abstract

We present the direct measurements of electric-dipole moments for $5P_{3/2}\to nD_{5/2}$ transitions with $20<n<48$ for Rubidium atoms. The measurements were performed in an ultracold sample via observation of the Autler-Townes splitting in a three-level ladder scheme, commonly used for 2-photon excitation of Rydberg states. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic measurement of the electric dipole moments for transitions from low excited states of rubidium to Rydberg states. Due to its simplicity and versatility, this method can be easily extended to other transitions and other atomic species with little constraints. Good agreement of the experimental results with theory proves the reliability of the measurement method.