Ye, S.Zhang, X.Dunning, F.B.Yoshida, S.Hiller, M.Burgdörfer, J.2014-07-082014-07-082014Ye, S., Zhang, X., Dunning, F.B., et al.. "Efficient three-photon excitation of quasi-one-dimensional strontium Rydberg atoms with n ~ 300." <i>Physical Review A,</i> 90, (2014) American Physical Society: 13401. http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.90.013401.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/76172The efficient production of very-high-n, n ~ 300, quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D) strontium Rydberg atoms through three-photon excitation of extreme Stark states in the presence of a weak dc field is demonstrated using a crossed laser-atom beam geometry. Strongly polarized quasi-1D states with large permanent dipole moments ∼1.2n2 a.u. can be created in the beam at densities (∼106 cm−3) where dipole blockade effects should become important. A further advantage of three-photon excitation is that the product F states are sensitive to the presence of external fields, allowing stray fields to be reduced to very small values. The experimental data are analyzed using quantum calculations based on a two-active-electron model together with classical trajectory Monte Carlo simulations. These allow determination of the atomic dipole moments and confirm that stray fields can be reduced to _25 μV cm−1.engArticle is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.Journal articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.90.013401