dc.creator Lackner, Florian en_US dc.creator Krois, Gunter en_US dc.creator Koch, Markus en_US dc.creator Ernst, Wolfgang E. en_US dc.date.accessioned 2012-07-09T19:42:11Z dc.date.available 2012-07-09T19:42:11Z dc.date.issued 2012 en_US dc.identifier 2012-FD-08 en_US dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1811/52553 dc.description Author Institution: Institute of Experimental Physics, Graz University of Technology, Petersgasse 16, A-8010 Graz, Austria en_US dc.description.abstract Rubidium atoms on the surface of superfluid helium droplets have been excited into Rydberg states. The excitation spectrum of the Rb-He$_N$ system has been recorded from the 5$^2$D state manifold up to the ionization threshold by resonant three-photon-ionization time-of-flight spectroscopy. The observation of droplet size dependent shifts of excited states with respect to bare atom states is explained by a decreased quantum defect and a lowered ionization threshold. Within the scope of a Rydberg model we demonstrate that quantum defects and ionization thresholds are constant for each specific Rydberg series, which confirms the Rydberg character of excited Rubidium states on helium droplets. A set of six Rydberg series could be identified. Individual Rydberg states are observed with effective principle quantum numbers up to $n^{*} \approx 19$ and $l \leq 3$, for which the expectation value of the electron orbital radius is about ten times larger than the droplet radius. %. en_US dc.language.iso en en_US dc.publisher Ohio State University en_US dc.title RUBIDIUM ATOMS ON HELIUM DROPLETS: ANALYSIS OF AN EXOTIC RYDBERG COMPLEX en_US dc.type Article en_US
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