Trap-loss spectroscopy of Rydberg states in ytterbium

Abstract

We present an experimental study of the Rydberg - and - series of ytterbium for principal quantum numbers in the range of n = 70–90. The study is performed using trap loss spectroscopy in a magneto-optical trap operating on the transition at 399 nm. Compared to the commonly used Rydberg spectroscopy method using field-ionization and ion detection, trap loss spectroscopy is significantly simpler and requires a less sophisticated experimental setup. Using this method we determine relative values of the scalar and tensor electric polarizabilities of both, - and - Rydberg states.