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arXiv · 2005.00090

Excitation and characterization of long-lived hydrogenic Rydberg states of nitric oxide

A. Deller·S. D Hogan
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Abstract

High Rydberg states of nitric oxide (NO) with principal quantum numbers between 40 and 100 and lifetimes in excess of 10 $\mu$s have been prepared by resonance enhanced two-color two-photon laser excitation from the X $^2\Pi_{1/2}$ ground state through the A $^2\Sigma^+$ intermediate state. Molecules in these long-lived Rydberg states were detected and characterized 126 $\mu$s after laser photoexcitation by state-selective pulsed electric field ionization. The laser excitation and electric field ionization data were combined to construct two-dimensional spectral maps. These maps were used to identify the rotational states of the NO$^+$ ion core to which the observed series of long-lived hydrogenic Rydberg states converge. The results presented pave the way for Rydberg-Stark deceleration and electrostatic trapping experiments with NO, which are expected to shed further light on the decay dynamics of these long-lived excited states, and are of interest for studies of ion-molecule reactions at low temperatures.

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A. Deller, S. D Hogan. 2020-04-30. Excitation and characterization of long-lived hydrogenic Rydberg states of nitric oxide. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0003092

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