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Microscopic Rydberg Electron Orbit Manipulation with Optical Tweezers

Homar Rivera-Rodríguez1, Matthew T. Eiles1,2, Tilman Pfau3, and Florian Meinert3

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 013401 – Published 1 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/3tq7-ywf6

Abstract

Laser cooling and trapping of atomic matter waves in optical potentials has enabled rapid progress in quantum science, particularly when combined with Rydberg excitation of the atoms to induce long-range interactions. Here, we propose the local manipulation and spatiotemporal sculpting of the electronic matter wave of a Rydberg atom by a laser field focused so that its beam width is smaller than the Rydberg electron orbit. We compute the electronic eigenstates in the presence of a sharply focused Gaussian laser beam, and find strong Rydberg state mixing leading to large kilo-Debye dipole moments. These can be modulated with high bandwidth controlled by the local tweezer intensity. Oscillations in the position-dependent level shifts, analogous to the potential wells allowing ultralong-range Rydberg molecules to form, provide opportunities for eccentric radial trapping of the Rydberg electron via ponderomotive forces acting on suborbital length scales.

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Corrections

6 August, 2026

Correction: The previously published Fig. 1 contained a minor error in the inset and has been fixed. A corresponding change has been made to the caption.

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Information

Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 013401– Published 1 July, 2026
  • Received 17 February 2026
  • Accepted 26 May 2026
  • Corrected 6 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 the Max Planck Society.

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