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  • Open Access

Magnetic atoms with a large electric dipole moment

J. Seifert, S. C. Wright, B. G. Sartakov, G. Valtolina*, and G. Meijer†

  • *Contact author: valtolina@fhi-berlin.mpg.de
  • †Contact author: meijer@fhi-berlin.mpg.de
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Phys. Rev. A 114, L040801 – Published 15 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/mtyy-l197

Abstract

We experimentally show that an electric dipole moment of more than 1 Debye can be induced in the dysprosium (Dy) atom, in a long-lived state that is about 17513cm−1 above the ground state. This metastable state is part of a strongly coupled opposite-parity doublet. Using optically detected microwave spectroscopy in an atomic beam, we determine the approximately 1.12cm−1 doublet spacing for the five stable bosonic isotopes of Dy with kilohertz-level accuracy. From the shift of the microwave transition frequency in low electric fields (below 150 V/cm) and from optical spectra in high electric fields (up to 150 kV/cm), a reduced transition dipole moment of 7.65 ± 0.05 Debye between the doublet states is extracted. In high electric fields the doublet interacts with a third state at 17727cm−1 that connects to the ground state via an electric-dipole transition. The three-state Stark interaction enables preparation of Dy atoms in the metastable state via single-photon excitation from the ground state. Our work experimentally validates predicted characteristics of the opposite-parity doublet and provides an effective route to the first doubly polar quantum gas of atoms.

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Supplemental Material

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. A 114, L040801– Published 15 October, 2026
  • Received 18 November 2025
  • Revised 30 January 2026
  • Accepted 19 August 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by Max Planck Society.

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