Kanungo, S. K., Whalen, J. D., Lu, Y., Killian, T. C., Dunning, F. B., Yoshida, S., & Burgdörfer, J. (2020). Loss rates for high-n, 49 ≲ n ≲ 150, 5sns (3S₁) Rydberg atoms excited in an 84Sr Bose-Einstein condensate. Physical Review A, 102(6), Article 063317. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.102.063317
Measurements of the loss rates for strontium n 3
S1 Rydberg atoms excited in a dense Bose-Einstein condensate
are presented for values of principal quantum number n in the range 49 n 150 and local atom densities of
∼1 to 3 × 1014 cm−3. Two main processes contribute to loss, associative ionization, and state changing. The
relative importance of these two loss channels is investigated, and their n and density dependences are discussed
using a model in which the Rydberg atom loss is presumed to involve a close collision between the Rydberg core
ion and ground-state atoms. The present measurements are compared to earlier results obtained using rubidium
Rydberg atoms. For both species the observed loss rates are sizable, ∼105 − 106 s−1, and limit the timescales
over which measurements involving Rydberg atoms immersed in quantum degenerate gases can be conducted.