Observation of vibrational dynamics in an ion-Rydberg molecule by a high-resolution ion microscope*

Vibrational dynamics in conventional molecules takes usually place on a timescale of picoseconds or shorter, therefore it is hard to observe. In this talk, we report on a direct spatial observation of vibrational dynamics in an ion-Rydberg atom molecule where the vibrational dynamics happens on much slower timescales and can therefore be directly studied.

Highly excited Rydberg atoms can form quite unusual bonds, which lead to long-range Rydberg molecules with exotic properties, here we study a molecular ion that is formed due to the interaction between an ionic charge and a flipping-induced dipole of a highly excited Rydberg atom. This molecule feature an unusual large bond length, therefore dynamical processes are slowed down drastically. This leads to a vibrational dynamics in the microsecond regime that can be observed in real space by using a high-resolution ion microscope. By applying a weak external electric field of a few mV/cm, it is possible to control the orientation of the ionic ultralong-range Rydberg molecules directly during the creation process. When the field is quenched off in a subsequent step, the vibrational dynamics can be initialized and observed under the ion microscope in real space.