Charge Transfer in Ultracold Rydberg-Ground State Atomic Collisions

TL;DR

This paper develops an analytical model for charge transfer in ultracold Rydberg-ground state atomic collisions, demonstrating near-perfect control over ion pair formation using off-resonant fields.

Contribution

It introduces a new asymptotic charge transfer model for ultracold Rydberg molecular interactions and shows how off-resonant fields can efficiently control ion pair production.

Findings

Near unity efficiency in ion pair formation achieved

Off-resonant field control effectively manages charge transfer

Analytical model accurately describes ultracold Rydberg interactions

Abstract

In excited molecules, the interaction between the covalent Rydberg and ion-pair channels forms a unique class of excited Rydberg states, in which the infinite manifold of vibrational levels are the equivalent of atomic Rydberg states with a heavy electron mass. Production of the ion pair states usually requires excitation through one or several interacting Rydberg states; these interacting channels are pathways for loss of flux, diminishing the rate of ion pair production. Here, we develop an analytical, asymptotic charge transfer model for the interaction between ultracold Rydberg molecular states, and employ this method to demonstrate the utility of off-resonant field control over the ion pair formation, with near unity efficiency.