Slow decay processes of electrostatically trapped Rydberg NO molecules

Abstract

Nitric oxide (NO) molecules initially traveling at 795 m/s in pulsed supersonic beams have been photoexcited to long-lived hydrogenic Rydberg-Stark states, decelerated and electrostatically trapped in a cryogenically cooled, chip-based transmission-line Rydberg-Stark decelerator. The decelerated and trapped molecules were detected $in$ $situ$ by pulsed electric field ionization. The operation of the decelerator was validated by comparison of the experimental data with the results of numerical calculations of particle trajectories. Studies of the decay of the trapped molecules on timescales up to 1 ms provide new insights into the lifetimes of, and effects of blackbody radiation on, Rydberg states of NO.

arXiv comment6 pages, 5 figures

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Cited by in corpus (4)

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• Ultralong-range Rydberg bi-molecules
• Electrostatic trapping of N${}_2$ molecules in high Rydberg states
• The Stark effect in molecular Rydberg states: Calculation of Rydberg-Stark manifolds of H${}_2$ and D${}_2$ including fine and hyperfine structures