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arXiv · 2510.24045

Fast Penning Ionization of Cold Rydberg atoms in an Electric Field

Changjie Luo·Feng Fang·Wenchang Zhou·Peng Zhang·Xinwen Ma·Jie Yang
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Abstract

We observe a fast Penning ionization in a dilute gas of cold rubidium Rydberg atoms, in the presence of a static electric field of 50 V/cm, with the ionization rate coefficients for two specific states being measured, which are orders of magnitude higher than the theoretical predictions in field-free space. Our analysis based on a polarized two-atom model reveals that the ionization threshold of Rydberg atoms is lowered by the static electric field, reducing the energy exchange required for Penning ionization and increasing the ionization rate. Beyond this, the dipole-dipole interaction strengthened by the electric field between two Rydberg atoms at a micrometer-scale distance leads to double ionization of the atoms pair, opening a new autoionization channel. Such enhancement of the Penning ionization by a static electric field poses both a threat to the stability and a potential control strategy for quantum systems composed of cold Rydberg atoms with micrometer-scale interatomic separations.

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Changjie Luo, Feng Fang, Wenchang Zhou, Peng Zhang, Xinwen Ma, Jie Yang. 2025-10-28. Fast Penning Ionization of Cold Rydberg atoms in an Electric Field. https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.24045

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