Deflection of krypton Rydberg atoms in the field of an electric dipole

The controlled deflection of Rydberg atoms in an inhomogeneous electric field is demonstrated and shown to be in agreement with predictions based on a well-defined Stark map. Krypton atoms in a supersonic beam are excited in a two-colour multiphoton process to selected Stark states with n = 16-19 and undergo deflections in the field of an electrostatic dipole. The spatial distribution of the deflected atoms is monitored by ion imaging. The atoms travelling ~10 cm in the beam direction after excitation are deflected from the beam axis by distances of up to 3 mm, the interaction with the field taking place over 40 µs. Simulations of the trajectories agree well with the experimental results, demonstrating that the detected Rydberg atoms are those which have not undergone decay processes in the 40 µs applied field.