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arXiv · 1904.08372

Precision spectroscopy of negative-ion resonances in ultralong-range Rydberg molecules

Felix Engel·Thomas Dieterle·Frederic Hummel·Christian Fey·Peter Schmelcher·Robert Löw·Tilman Pfau·Florian Meinert
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Abstract

The level structure of negative-ions near the electron detachment limit dictates the low-energy scattering of an electron with the parent neutral atom. We demonstrate that a single ultracold atom bound inside a Rydberg orbit forming an ultralong-range Rydberg molecule provides an atomic-scale system which is highly sensitive to electron-neutral scattering and thus allows for detailed insights into the underlying near-threshold anion states. Our measurements reveal the so far unobserved fine structure of the $^3P_J$ triplet of Rb$^-$ and allow us to extract parameters of the associated $p$-wave scattering resonances which deviate from previous theoretical estimates. Moreover, we observe a novel alignment mechanism for Rydberg molecules mediated by spin-orbit coupling in the negative ion.

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Felix Engel, Thomas Dieterle, Frederic Hummel, Christian Fey, Peter Schmelcher, Robert Löw, Tilman Pfau, Florian Meinert. 2019-04-17. Precision spectroscopy of negative-ion resonances in ultralong-range Rydberg molecules. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.123.073003

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