Abstract
Picosecond laser pulses have been used to produce Rydberg wave packets in calcium atoms in the presence of a strong static electric field. The dynamics of the Stark wave packets have been observed by measuring the momentum-space probability distribution as a function of time. The full precession of the electronic orbital angular momentum, the appearance of a large-amplitude, linear oscillation of the electronic dipole moment, and a pronounced, periodic up-down asymmetry in the momentum distribution are all observed directly.
- Received 11 August 1998
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.59.R4117
©1999 American Physical Society
