Studies of Highly Excited Atoms.
Abstract
Rydberg states of atoms have intrinsic properties that should allow their use as highly sensitive and tunable detectors at far infrared wavelengths. The intrinsic limit of such atomic detectors are collisional processes. This report describes the results of a research program to better understand an important class of collisions--namely, the resonant collision of two Rydberg atoms. We have extensively measured the linewidths and the collision cross sections and have determined thier dependence on parameters such as the principal quantum number and the Rydberg state angular momentum. The resonant collisions are shown to occur for a wide variety of initial states with cross sections of the order of 10 to the 9th power square-Angstroms and scaling as (n*O to the 4th order).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 02, 1986
- Accession Number
- ADA166838
Entities
People
- Ravinder Kachru
Organizations
- SRI International