AC Stark Effect

Travis Beals Physics 208A

UC Berkeley Physics
(picture has nothing whatsoever to do with talk)

What is the AC Stark Effect?

Caused by time-varying (AC) electric eld, typically a laser. Shift of atomic levels Mixing of atomic levels Splitting of atomic levels
(another pretty but irrelevant picture)

DC Stark Shift
|2, 0, 0 |2, 1, 1 |2, 1, 0 |2, 1, +1

Constant DC electric eld Usually rst-order (degenerate) pert. theory is sufcient DC Stark Effect can lift degeneracies, mix states

Hstark = p E = e zE = eEr cos

|2, 1, 0 |2, 0, 0 2 |2, 1, 1 |2, 1, 0 + |2, 0, 0 2 |2, 1, +1

Hydrogen n=2 levels

AC/DC: Whats the difference?

(highly relevant picture)

AC !time-varying elds Attainable DC elds typically much smaller (105 V / cm, versus 1010 V / cm for AC) AC Stark Effect can be much harder to calculate.

One-level Atom
Monochromatic variable eld Atom has dipole moment d, polarizability ". Thus, interaction has the following form:
1 2 2 Hint = dF cos t F cos t 2 Now, we solve the following using the Floquet theorem: d i = Hint dt

One-level Atom (2)

Get solution:
k=

(r, t) = exp(iEa t)
k=

Ck (r) exp(ik t)

with

1 2 Ea (F ) = F , 4 (1) JS
k

Ck =

S =

F 2 8

Jk+2S

dF

AC Stark energy shift is Ea, k#s correspond to quasi-energy harmonics

One-level Atom (3)

Weak, high frequency eld:
dF << , F 2 <<

Arguments of Bessel functions in are small, so only the k=S=0 term in is signicant. Quasi-harmonics not populated, basically just get AC Stark shift Ea

One-level Atom (4)

Strong, low-frequency eld:
dF >> , F <<
2

Bessel functions in kill all terms except S=0, and k=dF/# Only quasi-harmonics with energies dF are populated, so we get a splitting of the level into two equal populations

One-level Atom (5)

Very strong, very low-frequency eld:
dF >> , F >>
2

Only populated quasi-energy harmonics are those with 2 dF F k 4 Thus, have splitting of levels, get energies
F 2 F 2 E (F ) = dF 4 4

Multilevel AC Stark Effect

width of excited state transition co-efcient: $ij = cij ||$||
2

electronic ground state |gi> shift

3 c I Ei = 3 2 0
intensity

c2 ij ij
detuning: %ij = # - #ij

excited state energy: &#0

Assumptions & Remarks

Used rotating wave approximation (e.g. reasonably close to resonance) Assumed eld not too strong, since a perturbative approach was used Can use non-degen. pert. theory as long as there are no couplings between degen. ground states In a two-level atom, excited state shift is equal magnitude but opposite sign of ground state shift

AC Stark in Alkalis
(a)
2

P3

F=3
2

! HFS ! FS
,

P1

F=2
2

F=1

"

I = 3/2

F=2
2

S1

! HFS F=1

(Figure from R Grimm et al, 2000)

c Udip (r) = 3 2 0

(b)

2 +L=1 P g F mF 1 P gF m J= F + J= 2,F 1,F

3 1 2 2

(c)

I (r)

L=0

J=

AC Stark in Alkalis (2)

laser polarization 0: linear, 1: ' Land factor
2

c Udip (r) = 3 2 0

2 + P g F mF 1 P g F mF + 2,F 1,F

I (r)

detuning between 2S1/2,F=2 and 2P3/2 detuning between 2S1/2,F=1 and 2P1/2 F, mF are relevant ground state quantum numbers

What good is it?

Optical traps Quantum computing in addressable optical lattices use the shift so we can address a single atom with a microwave pulse

References

N B Delone, V P Kra(nov. Physics-Uspekhi 42, (7) 669-687 (1999) R Grimm, M Weidemller. Adv. At., Mol., Opt. Phys. 42, 95 (2000) or arXiv:physics/9902072 A Kaplan, M F Andersen, N Davidson. Phys. Rev. A 66, 045401 (2002)