Abstract

Using Rydberg atoms and microwave powers of a few watts it is possible to observe phenomena analogous to those observed with ground-state atoms and lasers of intensities of ~10⁹ W/cm². As microwave fields may be produced with substantially greater spatial and temporal homogeneity than focused pulsed lasers, Rydberg atoms and microwave fields appear to be a good way to study multiphoton processes.

© 1987 Optical Society of America