Guiding of Rydberg atoms in a high-gradient magnetic guide

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the guiding of Rydberg atoms using a high-gradient magnetic guide, revealing extended guiding times and insights into internal-state dynamics through experiments and simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a method for guiding Rydberg atoms in a high-gradient magnetic field and provides detailed analysis of their internal-state evolution and extended guiding times.

Findings

Guided Rydberg atoms for up to 5 ms.

Decay time of guided atoms is five times longer than initial state.

Simulations match experimental observations and elucidate state transitions.

Abstract

We study the guiding of $^{87}$Rb 59D$_{5/2}$ Rydberg atoms in a linear, high-gradient, two-wire magnetic guide. Time delayed microwave ionization and ion detection are used to probe the Rydberg atom motion. We observe guiding of Rydberg atoms over a period of 5 ms following excitation. The decay time of the guided atom signal is about five times that of the initial state. We attribute the lifetime increase to an initial phase of $l$-changing collisions and thermally induced Rydberg-Rydberg transitions. Detailed simulations of Rydberg atom guiding reproduce most experimental observations and offer insight into the internal-state evolution.