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

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2019-08
Main Authors: Engel, Felix, Dieterle, Thomas, Hummel, Frederic, Fey, Christian, Schmelcher, Peter, Löw, Robert, Pfau, Tilman, Meinert, Florian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coupling (molecular)
Electrons
Fine structure
Molecular structure
Negative ions
Resonance scattering
Spin-orbit interactions
Wave scattering
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Summary: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.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.1904.08372