Deflection of High-Rydberg Atoms in Collisions at Thermal Energy

Abstract
Lithium atoms in high Rydberg states, excited in an atomic beam by pulsed electron impact, are passed through a target gas and detected following electric-field state selection. Cross sections obtained from time-of-flight spectra are virtually independent of the principal quantum number and in numerical agreement with calculations for deflection of the core ion alone. This deflection has also been observed directly. These results suggest a new method for very-low-energy ion-atom scattering experiments.