Electric field control in ultralong-range triatomic polar Rydberg molecules

Abstract

We theoretically explore the external electric field control of a species of ultralong-range molecules that emerge from the interaction of a ground-state polar molecule with a Rydberg atom. The external field mixes the Rydberg electronic states and, therefore, strongly alters the electric field seen by the polar diatomic molecule due to the Rydberg electron. As a consequence, the adiabatic potential energy curves responsible for the molecular binding can be tuned in such a way that an intersection with neighboring curves occurs. The latter leads to admixture of $s$-wave character in the Rydberg wave function and will substantially facilitate the experimental preparation and realization of this particular class of Rydberg molecule species.