A molecular bond between ions and Rydberg atoms
Speaker: Professor Tilman Pfau
Affiliation: University of Stuttgart
Abstract
Atoms with a highly excited electron, called Rydberg atoms, can form unusual types of molecular bonds. The bond differs from the well known ionic and covalent bonds not only by its binding mechanism, but also by its bond length ranging up to several micrometres. We report the observation a new type of molecular bond based on the interaction between the ionic charge and a flipping induced dipole of a Rydberg atom with a bond length of several micrometres. We measure the vibrational spectrum and spatially resolve the bond length and the angular alignment of the molecule using a high-resolution ion microscope. As a consequence of the large bond length, the molecular dynamics is slow and can be directly observed under the microscope. These results pave the way for future studies of spatio-temporal effects in molecular dynamics, e.g., beyond Born- Oppenheimer physics, and more generally on (ionic) impurities in quantum gases.
About Australia - New Zealand Cold Atom Seminars
This new initiative hosts a seminar once a month for the Australia – New Zealand cold atom research community. The purpose is to encourage and facilitate ongoing discussions and collaboration in the local community. Talks should be less than 40 minutes in length to allow ample time for questions and discussion.
Seminars will be held on the last Friday of the month (except for December) at 1pm Melbourne time (which is normally 3pm New Zealand time). While the primary format is online via Zoom, various institutions will host the seminar in local seminar rooms. The Zoom link is https://uqz.zoom.us/j/88604569495
You can sign up for announcements for the seminars at this webpage:
https://lists.science.uq.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/anz_coldatoms
Seminars are recorded, and past seminars can be accessed from this web page.
Contact Matthew Davis mdavis@physics.uq.edu.au for further information.