Slow Decay Processes of Electrostatically Trapped Rydberg NO Molecules.

Area of Science:

• Physical Chemistry
• Atomic and Molecular Physics
• Quantum Mechanics

Background:

• Nitric oxide (NO) molecules are crucial in various chemical and physical processes.
• Rydberg states, highly excited electronic states of atoms and molecules, are sensitive probes of their environment.
• Controlling and studying molecules in these states is challenging due to their short lifetimes and sensitivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To photoexcite nitric oxide (NO) molecules into long-lived hydrogenic Rydberg-Stark states.
• To decelerate and electrostatically trap these excited NO molecules using a novel chip-based transmission-line decelerator.
• To investigate the lifetimes and blackbody radiation effects on these trapped Rydberg states.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing pulsed supersonic beams to prepare NO molecules.
• Employing photoexcitation to create Rydberg-Stark states.
• Using a cryogenically cooled, chip-based transmission-line Rydberg-Stark decelerator for molecule manipulation.
• In-situ detection via pulsed electric field ionization.
• Comparing experimental data with numerical trajectory calculations for validation.

Main Results:

• Successfully decelerated and trapped NO molecules in Rydberg-Stark states.
• Validated the performance of the Rydberg-Stark decelerator through experimental and computational comparisons.
• Observed the decay of trapped molecules over timescales up to 1 ms.
• Gained new insights into the lifetimes of NO Rydberg states.

Conclusions:

• Demonstrated the capability of a chip-based Rydberg-Stark decelerator for controlling excited molecules.
• Provided valuable data on the stability and decay dynamics of NO Rydberg states.
• Highlighted the influence of blackbody radiation on the observed lifetimes of these states.