Nonhydrogenic effects in the deceleration of Rydberg atoms in inhomogeneous electric fields -: art. no. 033005

Argon atoms in Stark states at napproximate to25 have been decelerated and accelerated in inhomogeneous electric fields. The acceleration and deceleration behavior can be understood only by considering the adiabatic Landau-Zener dynamics that take place at the avoided crossings between the Stark states and the limited fluorescence lifetimes of similar to10 mus.